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.
@BenaziR_00 یہ بدبخت ٹولہ جو بغیر الیکشن جیتے پاکستان پر قابض ہے یہ پاکستان کو ڈبونے جارہا ہے۔ ہم پاکستان سے محبت کرنے والے لوگ ہیں ہم آخر تک پاکستان کا دفاع کریں گے۔ محمود خان اچکزئی
فوجی آپریشن کیا ہوتا ہے آپکو معلوم نہیں
میں اپنے خاندان کی 10/10 لاشیں اٹھا چکا ہوں ہم لاشیں بھی اٹھاتے تھے اور اوپر سے فورسز ہمیں گولیاں بھی مارتی تھی ہماری خواتین کو بے پردہ کیا گیا سہیل آفریدی وزیراعلی خیبرپختونخوا
“There is no rule of the Constitution or the law in our country at this time. Instead, it is under the rule of ‘Asim Law’. Asim Munir is the most tyrannical dictator in history and is mentally unstable. The level of oppression during his tenure is unparalleled. His regime showed no regard for women, nor any compassion for children and the elderly. Asim Munir is capable of doing anything to satisfy his lust for power.
At this time, the entire country is being run by the orders of one man, Asim Munir, as a result of which morality has been completely buried. Never before have there been mass killings of ordinary citizens. The incidents of May 9th (2023), November 26th (2024), Azad Kashmir, and Muridke stand as the worst examples of the ruthless abuse of power. The way unarmed citizens were fired upon is unimaginable in any civilized society.
The atrocities committed against women during Asim Munir’s tenure are also unprecedented. Dr. Yasmin Rashid, an elderly cancer survivor, has been imprisoned merely for refusing to abandon Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Bushra Begum too has been kept in solitary confinement solely to exert pressure on me. What kind of law is this, where those who renounce PTI are granted amnesty, while those who remain loyal to my ideology face relentless persecution?
We prefer death over accepting slavery.
Asim Munir is inflicting every form of cruelty upon me and my wife. No political leader’s family has ever been subjected to such treatment. I wish to make it absolutely clear once again: no matter what they do, I will neither bow down nor submit to them.
My message to the nation is this: nations that embrace the clear and fearless principle of ‘freedom or death’ cannot be stopped from achieving true independence and progress. Only such principled nations ultimately prevail with honor.
I also wish to make it clear that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will hold no talks either with the Form-47 government or with the Establishment. There is no point in negotiating with a puppet government whose prime minister operates under a policy of ‘I will let you know after asking’. Negotiations are futile also because every time we have engaged in dialogue, the oppression against us has only intensified. All power rests in the hands of one man at this time: Asim Munir, who can go to any extent to extend his hold on power. Decisions regarding any negotiations will be made by our allies in the Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Aain Pakistan: Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.
All PTI office-bearers, parliamentarians, members of the Insaf Lawyers Forum, and senior lawyers must approach the High Courts and refuse to leave until hearing dates are set, because both my and Bushra Begum’s cases are being deliberately prolonged, with hearings not being scheduled, to ensure that we remain in prison. Everyone knows there is no substance in these cases and that they will eventually collapse; therefore, hearings are intentionally being withheld.
I have complete trust in Salman Akram Raja. All party-related instructions and meeting lists will be communicated through him. It is Salman Akram Raja’s responsibility to ensure that every directive is duly implemented.”
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s message from Adiala Jail during a meeting with his sister, November 4, 2025