A chilling silence surrounds Pakistan’s most popular imprisoned leader — and his family fears the worst.
KARACHI – The sons of Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, who remains behind bars, have voiced growing alarm over what they describe as an information blackout surrounding their father’s condition. After more than three weeks without any proof that he is alive, they say authorities might be hiding “something irreversible”.
Despite a court mandate guaranteeing weekly prison visits, Khan’s family has reportedly been denied all direct or verified contact. His son, Kasim Khan, speaking to Reuters, revealed that not even a brief message or image has reached them for months. “Living without knowing whether your father is safe, hurt, or worse—dead—is psychological torture,” he said in a written statement. “Our biggest fear is that something irreversible is being kept from us.”
The family has repeatedly appealed for Khan’s longtime physician to examine him, yet for over a year, those requests have gone unanswered. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s interior ministry has remained silent on the issue. An unnamed prison official, however, told Reuters that Khan was in good health and that no plans existed for transferring him to a higher-security facility—though such assurances have done little to calm public suspicion.
Imran Khan, 72, has been detained since August 2023, following a series of convictions he calls politically motivated retribution after being ousted from power through a parliamentary vote in 2022. His first conviction came from the so-called Toshakhana case, involving claims he illegally sold state gifts received during his time in office. Later rulings extended his imprisonment—ten years over allegations of leaking a diplomatic cable, and fourteen more in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust, a charitable project prosecutors argue was tied to corrupt land dealings.
Khan’s political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), argues that these charges are simply a means to expel him permanently from national politics and upcoming elections. But here’s where it gets controversial: television networks have been reportedly ordered not to broadcast Khan’s name or image. The only visual trace of him available online is a single blurred photo from a past court appearance — making his absence from public view feel both deliberate and symbolic.
“This isolation is calculated,” Kasim claimed, suggesting that authorities fear Khan’s enduring popularity. “They know they cannot defeat him through democracy, so they are trying to erase him from public consciousness.” He and his brother, Suleiman Isa Khan, both living in London with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, have largely remained distant from Pakistan’s turbulent politics. Still, their recent remarks mark a rare emotional appeal.
They last saw their father in November 2022, shortly after an assassination attempt nearly took his life. “That sight will never leave me,” Kasim said. “We were told he would heal with time. But now, after endless silence and no proof he’s even alive, that memory feels hauntingly different.”
The brothers say they are now reaching out to both domestic courts and international human rights groups to demand proof of life and restoration of visitation rights. “This is no longer a political fight,” Kasim stated. “This is a human rights crisis. Every institution with a conscience should be speaking out. We need to know our father is safe.”
And here lies the unsettling question: is this about one man’s imprisonment—or about silencing a movement that refuses to disappear? What do you think—is the government right to limit information in the name of stability, or is this crossing into dangerous territory for democracy?
