In a troubling take on their father’s incarceration, the two sons of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have voiced fear that he is being slowly broken by the conditions of his solitary detention with no medical treatment, all alone, abandoned by the international community.
Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, who have not seen their father since November 2022 and last spoke to him in March, told former England cricket captain Michael Atherton that the 71-year-old former leader is now suffering from severe medical neglect, extreme isolation, and what they called a deliberate campaign to “silence him forever.”
Pakistan’s government recently drew sharp rebuke from Khan’s political party, sisters and international human rights organizations for flouting the Supreme Court’s order to arrange for medical examination and treatment of the former prime minister at an independent private Shifa International hospital.
The government ministers maintain that they had proper examination of Khan at a government-run hospital, PIMS — the same hospital where official negligence and apathy were blamed for deaths of 14 newborn babies in a fire — and that he was declared fit by the government doctors.
Imran Khan’s sons, @Kasim_Khan_1999 and Suleman, have given an interview to Sky Sports ahead of the second Test match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s.#EngvsPak pic.twitter.com/xcF0VYbXKf
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) August 27, 2026
Khan’s sisters have filed a contempt of court appeal with the apex court, and want him treated properly to the satisfaction of his personal physicians.
Government’s Position
The former cricket star’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, independent lawyers, the United Nations, Amnesty International and human rights organizations have condemned the government for keeping Khan in inhumane conditions, in violation of national and international laws.
Khan’s lawyers and legal experts have also questioned the validity of the sentence meted out to him in a so-called Tosha Khana case, and accuse that he was denied the due process of law.
Islamabad has defended the prosecution and said he was sentenced by courts for violation of the law.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said doctors at the government-run PIMS hospital had a proper check up of Imran Khan in the presence of his sister Dr. Uzma Khan, rejecting accusations of a cover-up.
The PCB made a formal complaint to Sky Sports after the broadcaster aired an interview with the sons of former prime minister and captain Imran Khan during the lunch interval on the first day at Lord’s
Cricinfo understands the PCB considered the option of Pakistan not taking the… pic.twitter.com/G1Os5NsTSX
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) August 27, 2026
‘Worse Than Ever’ Behind Bars
Speaking with visible anguish, Khan’s sons described a father they once knew as the calmest man in a room—even during an armed robbery—now reduced to a frail prisoner struggling with basic survival.
“He has lost 80 per cent of his vision in one eye,” said Sulaiman.
“He lives in a very small cell without any new books, for 23 hours a day, with no proper air conditioning in summer. His blood pressure is rising due to the stress of isolation and solitary confinement.”
Kasim went further, alleging that the conditions are not accidental but punitive beyond reason.
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“They are not even acting with any kind of strategy anymore,” Kasim said. “It is not very clear what they are doing—just blatantly trying to kill him in there. Keep him in as long as possible, and silence him.”
In a conversation with his sister Dr. Uzma Khan last week, Khan drew grim parallels between his own treatment and that of other political prisoners like former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who died in custody.
“Right now it is worse than ever,” Kasim added. “Completely isolating him more than 23 hours a day in a cell.”
A Broken Promise of Medical Care
The family’s hopes were briefly raised last week when Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad—a ruling that would have granted him his longest respite from prison since his first jailing in August 2022.
But that hope quickly evaporated.
“We were cautiously optimistic,” said Sulaiman. “Our fears were confirmed when instead of being taken to the private hospital, where he was meant to be taken, he was just taken to a government medical facility for a few hours, and then taken straight back to jail.”
🚨 Syed Zulfi Bukhari exposed how the authorities misled the nation by moving Imran Khan and Dr. Faisal Sultan separately through different routes. #StopRiskingImranKhansLife pic.twitter.com/oDbFxpOTNB
— Hina Zainab (@hina98_hina) August 28, 2026
Kasim described the episode as a sham:
“In reality it was an hour check-up by government officials who said ‘great he’s OK’ and then said we will now send him to the independent hospital, Shifa. Instead they left all the doctors waiting, our auntie waiting—who is a doctor—and sent him straight back to jail.”
‘We Hear Nothing’: Family’s Plea for UK Help
The brothers, who live in the UK, say they have tried repeatedly to visit their father in Pakistan but have been blocked each time.
“Multiple times” they have applied for visas, only to be refused “for technical reasons,” they said.
Equally disheartening, they added, has been the response from the British government.
“We have been disappointed,” Sulaiman said. “Whenever we have reached out to the Foreign Office, or the previous foreign secretary, there has just been such a feeble response. They say, ‘that is terrible to hear, we sympathize’—and then we hear nothing.”
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Kasim was more blunt about the former administration:
“There wasn’t much action—in fact, there was zero support. They actively said we shouldn’t go to Pakistan, and they wouldn’t be able to support us if we did. We are hoping that with the new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, we might be able to have a bit more success and we might be able to see him.”
Khan’s former wife, Jemima Goldsmith has also appealed to the new British Government to intervene.
A Son’s Memory of a Father’s Composure
Perhaps the most haunting image the brothers offered was not of prison bars or medical reports, but of a man who once embodied unshakeable calm—now visibly broken.
“He had an eye patch on for the eye situation, seemed visibly stressed,” said Kasim. “That is something very hard for us to imagine—because he embodies a very calm, assured presence every time I have ever seen him, including being at gunpoint. A car we were in was robbed, and he was the calmest person there—including the robbers.”
A Cricket Icon, Now a Political Prisoner
Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to its only Cricket World Cup victory in 1992 and later became prime minister, has been in jail for over three years on a string of allegations his party dismisses as politically motivated.
His ousting in August 2022 sparked mass protests, and his imprisonment has drawn concern from human rights groups, as well as from 21 former international cricket captains and family members in the UK who have called for his humane treatment.
This weekend, Kasim and Sulaiman will attend Lord’s Cricket Ground—not as activists, but as sons of Pakistan. They said they will be supporting their father’s country, even as they fear for his life.
“Right now, it’s really crucial for us that he gets proper treatment,” Kasim said. “Not as a former prime minister—but as a human being.”
Asim Tanveer is a seasoned journalist working for TV and electronic and print media outlets. He has been working for some of the world’s leading news organizations including Associated Press (AP), Reuters, BBC, CNN, CNBC, Star TV, Voice of America and The New York Times for more than 20 years. He has won several awards for his live coverage of events that include a Reuters News Agency World Award and the Pride of Performance award in 2010.
