Adding my support here to GC and the other former international captains. I hope the court ordered medical assessment be allowed to run its course, and that family visits continue. I hope Imran Khan is treated with the dignity anyone deserves
Prime Minister @andyburnham and Foreign Secretary @Ed_Miliband : how much longer will Britain remain silent?
For three years the father of my two sons, and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been brutally penalised by his political opponents, in a personal vendetta by Army Chief, Asim Munir, which according to the UN, amounts to torture and which is now taking a potentially fatal toll on his physical and mental health.
He has endured 3 years of solitary confinement. For nearly ten months now his family has been denied contact with him. He has been deprived of the most basic human contact, denied access to books, lawyers and doctors.
The international human-rights standards are unequivocal. Under the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement lasting more than 15 consecutive days is prohibited and amounts to torture.
He has endured this treatment not for 15 days, but for three years.
Pakistan’s own Supreme Court has now intervened: ordering comprehensive medical treatment, access to his personal doctor, regular family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons.
Yet those orders are being defied.
This is no longer simply a Pakistani political matter. It is a human-rights emergency.
He has deep and lifelong ties to Britain. He studied at Oxford University, captained Oxford University cricket and spent years playing county cricket in England. His relationship with this country stretches back more than half a century. His charitable activities were internationally recognised, and include building the only free cancer hospital in Pakistan as well as a university.
His sons, my two boys, Sulaiman and Kasim, are British citizens. They have been forced to watch their father’s health decline from thousands of miles away, prevented from visiting him, denied visas, publicly threatened by government officials with arrest themselves, and even denied court-mandated regular phone calls.
I have repeatedly appealed to the UK government to intervene. Purported attempts at back channelling have evidently failed. The previous Foreign Secretary @DavidLammy informed me in writing that Britain would not intervene if my sons, British citizens, are arrested when they travel to Pakistan to visit their father.
@FCDOGovUK: Britain must now speak out publicly and unequivocally. Demand that Pakistan comply with its own Supreme Court; restore Imran Khan’s medical access, his right to see his family, end his prolonged isolation and uphold his fundamental human rights.
Pakistan is a Commonwealth country. Britain has a long and proud tradition of standing against arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment and the denial of fundamental rights. Those principles mean very little if we invoke them only selectively and neglect them when inconvenient.
This an appeal to the new Burnham government to please now do the right thing.
As my X account has been “throttled” acc to @grok - after a deal was done between @elonmusk & the Pakistani government to lift their x ban, this is a request to UK based Pakistanis an any of those who are able to read this tweet (unlike those in Pakistan) to please RT and help get this message out.
🚨In London, I interviewed Imran Khan’s sons @Kasim_Khan_1999 and Sulaiman about their father’s detention, which they call torture, and the role of Trump and the UK government, and much more. Check it out. Preview clips below.
Full Zeteo interview: https://t.co/1mkudgeDxa
کیا خوب گانا ہے! مزا آگیا 👋👋👋
What a splendid song
Take an oath with @ImranKhanPTI in every house
عمران خان کے ساتھ ہر گھر میں حلف اُٹھایئں:
ہم اپنے ملک کی حقیقی آزادی
اور جمہوریت کے لیئے
ہر وقت جدو جہد کریں گے
پاکستان زندہ باد!
My father, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has now spent over 700 days in prison - held in solitary confinement. He is denied access to his lawyers, not allowed visits from his family, fully cut off from us (his children), and even his personal doctor is refused entry. This is not justice. It is a deliberate attempt to isolate and break a man who stood for rule of law, democracy, and Pakistan.
🚨🇵🇰 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: IMRAN KHAN’S SONS BREAK THEIR SILENCE
Every once in a while, I conduct an interview that could shape the politics of a country.
This may be one of them.
Imran Khan, who I spoke with just weeks before his arrest, was one of the most popular leaders of our time.
Often called the “Trump of Pakistan,” he had an approval rating above 60%.
But when he turned against the country’s powerful military establishment, the cost was immediate.
He was shot.
Then jailed.
Then banned — not just from office, but from television, radio, and social media.
And yet, even from behind bars, even with his name erased, his party still won a majority in Pakistan’s latest elections.
It didn’t matter.
Today, he sits in a 7x8 cell designed for death row inmates.
No light. No lawyer. No access to doctors. No due process.
His sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, have spent their lives out of the spotlight, far from the chaos of Pakistani politics.
But for nearly 2 years, they’ve watched their father — wounded, silenced, and locked in solitary confinement — be forgotten by the world.
They haven’t seen him since he was shot.
Phone calls, when they come, arrive at random — sometimes at 4 a.m. — and last only 20 minutes before the line goes dead.
They stayed completely silent through all of it.
Not because they didn’t care — but because they were afraid speaking out would make things worse.
But now?
Now it’s been too long.
Now the silence feels like betrayal.
Now, they’re speaking — because this might be the only thing left they can do.
And they did not hold back.
To Pakistanis: do not lose hope.
To the international community: do not turn a blind eye.
Thank you @elonmusk and @lindayaX for X and your fight for free speech.
Disclaimers: This interview was conducted prior to the recent clashes between India and Pakistan.
I am not alleging the Pakistani military or Government was behind Imran’s assassination attempt.
Also note: Urdu voice over of the interview posted below as a comment.
01:26 — “He’s literally in the dark.”
No visits. No lawyers. No calls. No light.
02:16 — “He’s completely alone.”
No contact. No doctor. No way to know if he’s okay.
03:19 — “A death cell… for terrorists.”
7x8 feet. Blacked out. Designed to erase the human spirit.
04:09 — “First two days were hell.”
He survived 10 days in pitch darkness by forcing himself into a Zen-like state.
05:55 — “The line cuts at 20 minutes.”
Half the time: lessons. The rest: he asks about our lives.
06:50 — “We get a 4 a.m. message.”
If we miss it, it’s months before we hear from him again.
08:04 — “They’re trying to break him.”
No light. No doctors. No calls. But he refuses to fold.
09:16 — “He won’t take the deal.”
Not without his people. Not if it means betraying them.
13:22 — “We’ve run out of options.”
Legal routes are gone. Silence no longer helps. This is our last card.
15:19 — “They banned his name.”
On TV, radio, and online — we became the code for our own father.
17:01 — “We never spoke to Grenell.”
But we’re grateful. And we’ll speak to anyone who’ll listen.
18:27 — “It’s 100% political.”
False charges. Fake trials. A democracy on mute.
20:51 — “Yes, people have been taken.”
Supporters, journalists — vanished. Tortured. Broken.
22:06 — “He told us to stay private.”
But now? We have no choice.
24:03 — “We thought it’d be a few weeks.”
It’s been nearly two years.
26:26 — “He reads. He teaches. Then he listens.”
Each call is a lifeline.
28:05 — “They blurred him out.”
Even the 1992 World Cup photos — he was erased.
31:00 — “I’ve grown more in 2 years than 20.”
That’s what he tells us.
32:20 — “It’s getting desperate.”
New threats. Talk of a death sentence. No end in sight.
32:57 — “We asked him for permission.”
He said: Do it.
35:00 — “The last time we saw him, he’d been shot.”
Three bullets. Still standing. Still smiling.
36:45 — “We’re told not to come back.”
We might be used to break him further.
38:16 — “Respect the vote.”
PTI won — even without its symbol, even in silence.
39:38 — “Selling exotic fruit?”
That’s what they jailed him for.
40:53 — “Some family members were scared.”
But we have to try something.
42:07 — “He’s not done.”
Still learning. Still fighting. Still planning.
43:12 — “He’s 70. He was shot. And they deny him a doctor.”
This is not justice. This is torture.
Below is a THREAD with some shorter clips of the most important messages from my boys’ interview regarding their father’s incarceration.
Please share if you can.
1) His conditions in jail
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement :
Pakistan today is passing through one of its darkest phases, where there is a complete collapse of law and order and brute force is being used unabated to destroy the very foundations of democracy, constitution, and rule of law.
Judiciary is being enslaved with the executive being given powers well beyond its constitutional entitlement, thus gravely impacting the structure of trichotomy of power.
Nobody is safe from the fascism prevalent today: legislators, their businesses, their properties, their families, even women and children are under assault. Azam Swati, Khawaja Shiraz, Intizar Panjotha have all been abducted and tortured. All established redlines have been fractured with total disregard for human rights.
In the wake of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the silence of the legal fraternity is disturbing. Today, the situation is much worse than ever before in the past. Judiciary’s independence has been brutally assaulted, and judges turned into dispensable commodities. This must be resisted with the full vigour and faith by the legal community as, otherwise, they will forever remain buried under the unwieldy weight of oppression and tyranny.
The criminal mafias that have been illegally hoisted in positions of power have their properties, businesses and families abroad. They come back only to unleash a reign of plunder to fly off to their safe havens, waiting for their next turn.
They were defeated in the February 8 elections, but the results were stolen in the darkness of night. This blighted night has continued to get darker with the passage of time.
I have been subjected to solitary confinement and torture in a dark cell by those who control Adiala. My Lahore house was raided when my wife was alone. My sisters and other relatives have been mercilessly targeted. I have not been allowed to speak to my children and denied all rights that the constitution grants me.
With the establishment in command, the distance between the armed forces and the people is widening. Army being an indispensable public asset must be responsive to the will of the people. We can’t afford to sacrifice the reputation of the institution to satiate the lust for power of an individual or a coterie of a few. That would be tragic as it would cause irreparable damage to the reputation of the institution.
Our struggle is not against the institution of the military. We are fighting for democracy, independence of judiciary and restoration of the Constitution. The fight is for the rights of the people. We are fighting for confining institutional operations within the domain of the Constitution. We are fighting for restoring people their freedoms so that they could lead Pakistan to become a formidable country.
No outside force will help us. We must do it ourselves. We must regain our freedom, our dignity and self-respect. Loss of these values renders' human life meaningless. What we do now will determine the future of Pakistan and that of its coming generations.
This can be done only if the stolen mandate of February 8 is restored to the people of Pakistan and those whom they selected as their leaders. The governments installed on the basis of a stolen mandate are lack legitimacy and relevance. They cannot provide the country the leadership it desperately needs to tide over unprecedented difficult times.
It is time for people to step out to reclaim their mandate. PTI is the largest political party of the country. We have the people’s trust. We must not fail them. This is the time to launch a peaceful movement for the restoration of the Constitution, democracy and rule of law. I call upon all segments of the society to play their role. I especially urge my ticketholders to join the movement.
In the last few weeks there have been serious and concerning developments regarding my sons’ father, Imran Khan’s treatment in prison. The Pakistan authorities have stopped all visits to him by his family and his lawyers. They have also postponed all court hearings. In addition to cutting off in- person visits, and in defiance of a court order, his weekly calls to his sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, who are British and who live in London, were stopped on 10th September. We have received reports that the authorities have now turned off the lights and electricity in his cell and he is no longer allowed to leave his cell at any time. The jail cook has been sent on leave. He is now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world. His lawyers are concerned about his safety and well-being.
These actions come in the context of ongoing targeting of Imran’s family, as well as his party (PTI) members and supporters in an attempt to silence them and all political opposition in Pakistan. Imran’s nephew, Hassan Niazi, a civilian, has been detained in military custody since August 2023. More recently, Imran Khan’s sisters, Uzma and Aleema Khan, who have continued to speak out on his behalf, have also been arrested as they made their way peacefully to a demonstration and they are currently being held in jail, despite there being no proper or lawful basis for their imprisonment.
In June this year the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Imran is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained and called for his immediate release.
As a matter of urgency , we are calling for Imran Khan’s release, and for the release of his sisters and nephew as well as for his sons’ contact with their father to be re-established, so that they may have assurance first-hand that he is well and not being mistreated.
اس اینکر نے کیا خوبصورت الفاظ میں ارشد ندیم کو سراہا ہے
ایسے ہوتے ہیں اینکر ایسا ہوتا ہے تجزیہ باقی noise pollution پھیلانے والوں کی دونوں ممالک میں کمی نہیں ہے
✍️ "The military leadership has been subjected to overt criticism at a level unseen before in our history. The government is a laughing stock"
From his prison cell, former Pakistani prime minister, @ImranKhanPTI, writes exclusively for The Telegraph ⬇️
https://t.co/grcXuuK2TS
Imran Khan: “All that's left for them now is to murder me – but I'm not afraid to die”
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan writes exclusively for The Telegraph @Telegraph from the prison.
https://t.co/LcY4AU5AOm
سجا لیا اپنا محشر؟
کرلیا شوق اپنی خدائ کا پورا؟
بد دیانت، بد عنوان، بد کردار۔۔ہوگیا ثابت؟
اب یوں کرو اپنی جانوں پر رحم کرو اور تسلی سے بیٹھ کر خلقِ خدا کا فیصلہ سن لو۔
خلقِ خدا سمجھتی ہے کہ تم نے اُن کی امانت میں خیانت کی ہے۔ ان کا اعتماد اور بھروسہ توڑا ہے۔ وہ سمجھتی تھی تم اُس سے مخلص ہو۔ سب بُرے ہوسکتے ہیں۔ تم اس کا برا نہیں چاہ سکتے۔ ہاں تم سے غلطیاں ہوئی ہیں مگر تمہاری نیت غلط نہیں تھی۔ تم اعلی و ارفع تھے ان کی نظر میں۔۔ خلقِ خدا کی نظروں سے گِر گئے ہو تم۔
تم نے برسوں انہیں باور کرایا کہ تم اُن کے اور کرپٹ اشرافیہ کے درمیاں کھڑے ہو۔ کہ بیرونی طاقتیں تمہیں کچل کر اِنہیں اُن پر مسلط کرنا چاہتی ہیں اور تم ان کے غم خوار ان کی بقا کے ضامن اِن کو اُن کے شر سے بچانا چاہتے ہو۔ خلقِ خدا نے آنکھیں بند کرکے تم پر بھروسہ کیا۔ تم اُن کے مجرموں سے گٹ جوڑ کر آئے؟ اُن کے در پر جھک گئے جنہوں نے ان کی حمیت پر وار کیا؟ خلقِ خدا کا بھرم ٹوٹ گیا۔
خلقِ خدا تمہاری پاکبازی کی قسم کھاتے تھے۔ تمہیں حق مانتے تھے تم ان کی عزتوں کے نگہبان تھے۔ تمہارے بھروسے سکوں کی نیند سوتے تھے۔ وہ سوچتے تھے ان کی چادر و چاردیواری کا تقدس تمہارے لیے تمہاری سانسوں سے افضل ہے۔ سد دلیلیں خلاف بھی جو ملیں انہوں نے سوچا تمہاری حمایت میں۔ خلقِ خدا کی آنکھوں سے پردہ اٹھا نہیں چِھرا ہے۔ بھروسہ ٹوٹا نہیں ریزہ ریزہ ہوا ہے۔
پہلے دکھ تھا، تاسف تھا۔ پھر غصہ بنا۔۔ ہم نے سو بار کہا سنبھل جاؤ۔ محبت بھلے نا رہے بھرم رہنا چاہئے۔ بھروسہ رہے نا رہے آنکھ ملانے جتنا سلسلہ روا رہنا چاہئے۔ اعتبار لُٹا تھا خاموشی کا مان رہنے دیتے۔۔
مگر تم کیا سنتے تم تو ہر اُس سر کو کچلنے نکل پڑے جس نے تمہیں سمجھانا چاہا۔ یاد ہے نا وہ شخص جو ایک جنگل بیاباں میں بیٹھ کر اپنی آخری بچی سانسوں میں تمہیں سمجھاتا رہا تھا کہ تمہارے ہاتھ کچھ نہ رہیگا؟ وہ شخص جس نے اپنے رہے سہے دن اس امید پہ گزار دیے کہ شاید تم سنبھل جاؤ۔ تم نے کیا کیا؟
تمہاری بد نصیبی نہ آئی ہوتی تو تم خلقِ خدا کو مجبور کرتے کہ وہ تم سے نفرت کا پہلا سبق اُس کے اُس خون سے لکھتی جس کے ہر قطرے میں تمہاری محبت تھی؟ تب بھی کہا تھا کہ اب وہ تیزاب بن کر تمہاری رگوں میں اترے گا۔۔ مگر تم تو اندھے ہوگئے تھے۔۔
تمہاری کم بختی کی معراج اور کیا ہو کہ تم اُن کی خاطر پستیوں میں گِرے کہ جن کی دشنام طرازیوں نے تمہیں چہار سُو رسوا کیا تھا۔ جو نہ کبھی ہمارے بن سکے نہ تمہارے بنیں گے۔ ان کی خاطر تم نے انہیں گنوا دیا جنہوں نے تمہارے نام پہ اپنے بچوں کے مونہوں سے نوالہ نکال کر دان دیا۔
تمہاری اِس سے بڑھ کر ذلت کیا ہو کہ جو مائیں اپنی جھولیاں پھیلا پھیلا کر تمہارے لیے دعائیں مانگتی تھیں تم اُن کی ردائیں چھین کر سرِ بازار لے آئے۔
جِن کی آنکھیں تمہیں دیکھ کر چمکتی تھیں۔۔ تم ان کے خواب، ان کے گھر، ان کی مانگ، ان کی گود، ان کی دنیائیں اجاڑ آئے۔۔
جو تمہارے جیسا بنانے کے لیے بیٹے جنتی تھیں تم اُن کے ماتھے پر اپنے افکار کی سیاہی تھوپ آئے۔ خلقِ خُدا سے جو بھڑنا تھا سو بھڑے تم تو خدا سے بھی دشمنی باندھ آئے۔
اور اِس کھیل میں عریاں کون ہوا؟ ماں تو معتبر ہے رہی۔۔ چاہے وہ عثمان ڈار کی تھی یا بُشری عمران خان! رُسوا کون ہوگیا؟
تمہیں اُس کے بلند قامتی سے وحشت ہوتی تھی۔ اُس کے ایمان سے الجھن تھی۔ اُس کے عقیدے سے خوف آتا تھا۔
تم اُسے مثال بنا کر خلقِ خدا پہ اپنی ہیبت بٹھانا چاہ رہے تھے تم فقط نفرت کے حقدار رہ گئے۔ پہلے دکھ ہوتا تھا۔ غصہ آتا تھا۔ پھر افسوس ہونے لگا۔ اب خوف آرہا ہے۔ یقیں مانو جو حدیں تم پاٹ آئے ہو تمہارے انجام سے خوف آرہا ہے۔
میرے پاکستانیو! توشہ خانہ، سائفر اور عدّت جیسے مقدمات کے منظرِعام پر آنے سے ان کا لغوپن اور انکا بےبنیاد ہونا ہی سامنے نہیں آیا بلکہ انکی تہہ میں چھپے سیاسی عزائم بھی کھل کر سامنے آئے ہیں۔
جب سائفر کا معاملہ رونما ہوا تو میں نے متنبّہ کیا اگر ہم فیصلہ کن انداز میں اس سے نہ نمٹے تو آئندہ کوئی وزیراعظم پاکستان کے اندرونی معاملات میں ایسی صریح غیرملکی مداخلت کا سامنا نہیں کرپائے گا۔
جنرل مشرف نے بھی ”پاکستان کو بمباری کرکےپتھر کے دور میں دھکیلنے“ کی امریکی دھمکی کے سامنے ہتھیار ڈال دیے تھے۔
مگر رجیم چینج آپریشن رچانے والے اپنے آقاؤں کی خوشنودی کیلئے مجھے سرکاری گواہوں سے جرح کرنے یا اپنی صفائی میں گواہ پیش کرنے کے قانونی حق سےمحروم کردیا گیا کیونکہ ہینڈلرز بخوبی جانتے تھے کہ اگر مجھے یہ حق دیا گیا تو بنگال کے میر جعفر کی طرح ہماری سیاسی تاریخ کی ایک اور بڑی غدّاری بے نقاب ہوگی۔
اللہ ربّ العزّت کے فضل و احسان سے میں نے مالی اعتبار سے بالکل بے داغ زندگی گزاری ہے اور میری اس ساکھ کی بدولت پاکستان کےعوام میرے خیراتی/فلاحی منصوبوں کے لئے اربوں روپے کے عطیات دیتے ہیں۔ چنانچہ توشہ خانہ کا یہ بیہودہ سا مقدمہ تراشا ہی اس لئے گیا کہ میرے خلاف مالی بدعنوانی کا ایک ادنیٰ سا ثبوت بھی تلاش نہ کرسکے۔
حتّٰی کہ مقدمے پر جعلی عدالتی کارروائی کے دوران بھی جب انہیں احساس ہوا کہ مقدمہ میری برّیت پر انجام پذیر ہوگا تو اس میں بھی مجھے سرکاری گواہوں سے جِرح کے بنیادی قانونی حق سے محروم کر دیا گیا۔
اسی دوران عدّت والے مقدّمے کی رفتار بھی بڑھا دی گئی ہے کیونکہ پاکستان کو ریاستِ مدینہ کے اصولوں سے ہم آہنگ کرنے کےمیرےخواب کے خلاف ایک بیانیہ بنانا چاہتے ہیں۔ چنانچہ محض مجھے قصور وار قرار دینے کیلئے شفافیت کے ادنیٰ ترین معیار کوبھی پامال کرتے ہوئے نہایت عجلت میں عدالتی کارروائی کو لپیٹا جارہا ہے۔
میرے پاکستانیو! آپ سب کو علم ہونا چاہئیے کہ ان مقدّمات کی کوئی قانونی بنیاد نہیں بلکہ یہ سب اس سیاسی تماشے کا حصّہ ہیں جو گزشتہ 22 ماہ سے اس ملک میں جاری ہے۔ جس تیزی سے یہ تمام مقدّمات لپیٹے جارہے ہیں اس کا واحد مقصد ووٹرز خصوصاً نوجوانوں کے حوصلے توڑنا اور انہیں مایوس کرنا ہے۔ آپ نے ہرگز ہمّت نہیں ہارنی کیونکہ ربّ العزّت ہی حتمی تدبیر کنندہ اور منصوبہ ساز ہے۔
ہمارے پاس سب سے طاقتور اور معنی خیز ہتھیار ہمارا ووٹ ہے جسے ہمیں ان مجرموں کو نکال باہر کرنے کیلئے پوری شدّت سے استعمال کرنا ہے جنہیں ہمارے سروں پر مسلط کیا گیا ہے۔
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan's lawyer gives out details exposing the illegal manner in which the sham cypher case trial by a Kangaroo court was conducted inside prison, making a complete mockery of law and justice in the country.
The former prime minister of Pakistan writes from prison that his party is being unfairly muzzled, in a guest essay for The Economist https://t.co/FehqasDIQ5