Deepening the mystery surrounding the incarceration of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, his son Kasim Khan has launched a grave accusation against jail authorities, alleging they may be hiding "something irreversible" concerning his father's condition. The family claims to have had no direct or independently verifiable contact with the cricketer-turned-politician for a couple of months, despite a judicial order permitting weekly meetings.
Family in the Dark, Alleges Psychological Torture
In written remarks to the Reuters news agency on Monday, Kasim Khan expressed the family's profound distress and growing fear. "Not knowing whether your father is safe, injured or even alive is a form of psychological torture," he stated. He emphasized that the last time he and his brother, Suleiman Isa Khan, saw their father was in November 2022, following an assassination attempt on Imran Khan.
Kasim revealed that the family's attempts to facilitate a medical examination have been consistently blocked. Khan's personal physician has not been allowed to examine him for more than a year, a point of major contention given the swirling speculation about his health. "Today we have no verifiable information at all about his condition. Our greatest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us," Kasim added.
Official Denials Amidst Mounting Speculation
While the family voices alarm from London, where Kasim and Suleiman live with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, Pakistani jail officials have offered starkly contrasting assurances. A jail official told Reuters that Imran Khan was in "good health" and receiving all necessary medical care at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The official also denied awareness of any plan to move the PTI chief to a higher-security facility.
This official narrative, however, is challenged by Kasim's claim that his father has been denied visitors for the past six weeks. The lack of transparency has fueled intense speculation and rumours across Pakistan and internationally about the true state of the imprisoned leader's wellbeing.
A Series of Sentences and Political Isolation
Imran Khan's legal troubles have accumulated rapidly since his initial arrest. He was first convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in August 2023 in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case. Subsequently, more charges were brought against him, leading to a further 14-year sentence, which stands as the longest jail term he has received to date.
The controversy over his health adds another layer of complexity to Pakistan's volatile political landscape. With his sons largely distanced from the country's dynastic politics and communicating sparingly, the claims from London underscore the high stakes and deep divisions characterizing the former prime minister's ongoing confinement.
