Kasim Khan and Suleiman Khan, the sons of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, have said that in Pakistan, where their father is imprisoned, the situation resembles “a military dictatorship in everything but name”, and that they are “worried we might never see him again”, as they disclosed how they have applied for visas and are planning to travel in January to seek a meeting with him.
Speaking from London in an interview with Sky News journalist Yalda Hakim, they explained when and how they hope to visit, why they fear for his safety, and what they say are the conditions in which he is being held.
The interview came as another sit-in by Imran Khan’s sisters outside Adiala jail, staged over being denied a meeting with him, was dispersed using water cannons, with the party alleging that “chemical-laced” water was used. With court-ordered prison visits still blocked, Imran Khan’s family and party have continued to raise concerns about his detention. A United Nations special rapporteur has also warned that he is being held in conditions that could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment.
During the interview released early on Wednesday, Hakim asked Kasim and Suleiman whether they had tried to engage with the Pakistani government to get permission to visit their father. She noted that they had earlier spoken about “being warned not to come”, despite Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying they “were welcome to come and can visit him [Imran]”.
In response, Kasim said, “We are now planning to because they said it openly. So — unless they go against their word — we should be hopefully going in January. We have applied for our visas. […] It hasn’t come through yet. We are expecting it to come through, so we are planning a trip in January.”
Asked what they would say to Imran Khan if they saw him and whether they would urge him to consider “cutting a deal”, Kasim said, “What you have to understand is it’s his life. It’s literally his passion and his goal. He calls it his life’s purpose to help rid Pakistan of corruption.”
“And so if he just took a deal and came over to us and lived in England, I know there would be this burning desire and this aching that he has left his country for dead. And he would be depressed, to be honest. I know he would.
“This is his goal, and as much as we’d love to have our father watching all of our cricket matches or football matches over here, he has a purpose which is far greater. So, you can only respect it.”
When asked what message they would like to send to him, Kasim said, “I want to know how we can get him out, how we can help because the main point is we feel so helpless at this point. I mean, there’s so much to catch up on.”
He added that Imran Khan avoided speaking about his jail conditions during their interactions. “He’s like, ‘Oh, you know, don’t worry about me. How’s everything?’” Kasim said, adding that his father would also ask after their grandmother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, who died in October.
“We haven’t spoken to him since she died only a couple of months ago, and I would love to speak to him about that. He called her his mother after his own mother had passed, and their relationship was so close. So, I’d love to speak to him about that.”
When asked whether they believed Imran Khan would ever be released, Kasim said the outlook appeared bleak. “The conditions are getting worse. The people in power are becoming more entrenched. So, it’s very hard to see a way out, and a lot of the people we speak to are seeming less and less confident every time we speak to them.
“So, we’re now worried we might never see him again.”
He added that although the defence minister had said they were welcome to visit, he remained doubtful. Suleiman said Imran Khan was “not the sort of person who’s going to make any compromises or cut a deal”, adding that while this might appear the easiest route out, “international pressure is always an effective way of forcing change in these situations”.
‘Awful conditions’
Asked about the state of Imran Khan’s jail cell, Kasim said, “The conditions are awful. Like, they are not bad, they are awful.” Suleiman said the cell had been described to them as a “death cell”.
“There are barely any lights, sometimes the electricity is cut off, there’s dirty water completely substandard conditions that don’t meet international laws for any sort of prisoner,” he said.
The brothers also described the impact of rumours on social media about Imran Khan’s possible death. Suleiman said the experience was “incredibly stressful”. “I went straight to my family group chat because that’s the only reliable source that we have on the ground in Pakistan,” he said. Kasim called the rumours “jarring”, saying they disrupted everyday life, particularly given their sense of helplessness abroad.
Hakim referred to Imran Khan’s sister Uzma being allowed to meet him in early December after weeks of restricted access. After the meeting, a post on Imran Khan’s X account criticising the military leadership led to a strong press briefing by Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry. Suleiman said Uzma had told them that Imran Khan was well but furious about the conditions.
“And he put out—he dictated a tweet (post on social media platform X) I think, through her, or maybe potentially through her. And I think that tweet has partly led to this reaction from the establishment to completely try and isolate him,” he said.
Asked about their message to the international community, Suleiman said, “At minimum, just to make sure that the standards of international human rights are being upheld, and right now they’re clearly being violated. We just want to ensure that basic human rights for our father are being respected.” He also called for independent monitoring of Imran Khan’s conditions. Kasim stressed the need to implement court orders on visitation rights, uphold the rule of law, and allow Imran Khan to see his personal physician.
When asked about Imran Khan’s likely view on recent constitutional amendments, including immunity for the army chief, Kasim said he believed his father would not be surprised. “Because I think it’s quite clear that it was heading towards basically what it is now, which is a military dictatorship in everything but name. I think he probably knows about this already. And part of the reason he’s being silenced, isolated is because they know that he’s inevitably not going to stand for this.”
The brothers said they were planning further advocacy and expected to visit Brussels or Geneva in January to speak to politicians and officials. Asked what those in power feared, both replied together: “Popularity.” Kasim said, “He’s the most popular person in the country by a landslide. So the moment he’s out, there’s no chance they’ll hold on to power. So they’re desperately clinging on to it however they can.”
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