Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Isa Khan, the two sons of former Pakistani prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, have expressed deep concern over their father’s health. They allege that for the past seven months, Pakistani authorities have not allowed Imran Khan’s family members, lawyers and doctors to see him.
In an interview with CNN from London on the third anniversary of Imran Khan’s arrest, Kasim and Sulaiman said: “We have no update on our father, because his family members, doctors and lawyers have not been allowed to see him for seven months.”
On Wednesday (5 August), thousands of PTI supporters held protests and rallies across Pakistan demanding the release of Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. Imran Khan was prime minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022. After being removed through a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022, he was convicted in 2023 in several cases, including corruption and leaking state secrets, and sent to jail.
Imran Khan and his supporters, however, say the cases are politically motivated and that the government of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took the steps to keep him out of politics. After his removal, Imran Khan held large anti-government rallies, alleging that his government had been removed with the help of Pakistan’s military and the United States — claims both the military and the US have denied. The government later launched a sweeping crackdown on PTI leaders and activists, and the party was barred from taking part in the 2024 general election.
Allegations of visa complications
In the interview, Kasim and Sulaiman said they wanted to go to Pakistan to see their father, but that each time they spoke to the media, entering Pakistan became harder for them. “We want to go, we are trying. But nothing is moving forward. There is no reason not to give us visas,” Kasim said.
Pakistan’s information ministry, however, told CNN that Kasim and Sulaiman held a National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), so they did not need a visa to enter Pakistan. The ministry claimed their complaint on this was misleading and politically motivated. In response, the two brothers said their NICOP cards had expired and had not been renewed. The government made no comment on this.
Amnesty International’s concern
The human-rights group Amnesty International, in a statement, called on Pakistan’s government to unconditionally restore the right of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s family members and lawyers to visit them. It also said proper medical care must be ensured and unlawful solitary confinement ended.
Pakistan’s government has flatly denied the allegations. In a statement, it said claims that Imran Khan had been kept incommunicado for seven months, or that his family, lawyers and doctors had been barred from seeing him, were entirely baseless. According to prison records, it said, Imran Khan last spoke with one of his sons on 21 March 2026, so the claim that contact with him was completely cut off was incorrect. Visits, however, were being regulated under prison rules, court directives and security considerations, it said, adding that Imran Khan’s physical condition was stable and that he was receiving regular medical care, medicine and health monitoring.
According to the government, Imran Khan is being held in a special seven-cell compound built for about 30 to 35 prisoners. The statement said it had a 57-foot corridor, a 35-by-37-foot lawn, a bed, mattress, four pillows, a blanket, table and chair, sanitation facilities and exercise equipment. This arrangement was in no way consistent with isolation, neglect or a punitive environment, the government said.
Asked whether there was any prospect of a settlement between Imran Khan and the government, Sulaiman said his father would not enter any settlement without ensuring the release of other political prisoners. Kasim, meanwhile, said it was hard to say anything at the moment. “They are not showing us any health report either, so we don’t even know whether his physical condition has deteriorated significantly,” he said.
He added: “I want those who hold power to pay attention to what is happening in Pakistan. We are speaking not just as sons but on behalf of 350 million people who support him and want to see him lead the country again. Yet he has been kept in jail without any reasonable cause.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report