Imran Khan’s sons, who live in London, fear for their father’s health. Concerned over Imran Khan’s deteriorating health in Pakistan’s Adiala prison, authorities are asking authorities to allow him to visit his father, imprisoned under the government led by Shehbaz Sharif, Reuters reported.
The development comes almost a week after reports surfaced that the former prime minister of Pakistan had lost significant vision in his right eye while in Rawalpindi jail. It has been almost two years since authorities jailed the former captain of Pakistan’s World Cup-winning cricket team in August 2023. The former cricket star-turned-politician is currently serving a 14-year sentence for corruption but says the charges are politically motivated.
On February 12, Khan’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, informed the Supreme Court that the 73-year-old man had lost 85% of his vision in his right eye and “had only 15% vision left in his right eye,” Reuters reported. On the same day, Khan’s sons Kasim, 26, and Sulaiman, 29, spoke to their father on the phone for the first time since September last year.
However, the medical board claimed on Monday that the swelling had gone down after treatment and his vision had improved. In an interview with a news agency, the duo said that they are not sure about the veracity of the medical report.
Their father, they said, usually avoids discussing health issues, but he expressed frustration during the call. Quoting their father’s statement, Khan’s sons said he had been denied eye treatment for several months.
“We’ve been away from him for so long,” says Kasim
Suggesting that his ‘abba’ be moved to a proper medical facility and have access to his private doctors, Kasim said: “It’s hard not to feel down sometimes because we’ve been away from him for so long.”
Their immediate concern is the father’s “freedom, adherence to proper human rights procedures as well as the rule of law and just making sure that he is afforded a proper and fair trial.”
While authorities say medical procedures are underway, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party blames it on negligence. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court was probing the details of his treatment. With some convictions suspended and others pending appeal, Khan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called the charges politically motivated.
Kasim and Sulaiman are Khan’s sons with his ex-wife, British socialite and filmmaker Jemima Goldsmith. They claim they have not seen their father since November 2022, after he survived an assassination attempt.
Kasim and Sulaiman applied for visas last month but have yet to receive a response. Despite the delay in responding to the visa application, Sulaiman said: “Maybe the organization is worried that if we went to see him, it would create more noise and just more attention to his situation.”
(With inputs from Reuters)