Kasim Khan, son of jailed former leader of Pakistan Imran Khan, said authorities may be concealing “something irreversible” about his father's health. He also said that his family had no contact with his father for over three weeks.
“Not knowing whether your father is safe, injured or even alive is a form of psychological torture,” he said in a written comment to Reuters. He also said that there was no independently confirmed communication for a couple of months.
The family’s court-ordered prison visits have been blocked by authorities amid rumours of a possible prison transfer.
“Today we have no verifiable information at all about his condition,” he added. “Our greatest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us,” Kasim said.
میرے والد کو گرفتار ہوئے 845 دن ہو چکے ہیں۔ پچھلے چھ ہفتوں سے انہیں مکمل بے خبری کے ماحول میں ڈیتھ سیل میں تنہا رکھا گیا ہے۔ ان کی بہنوں کو ہر ملاقات سے روک دیا گیا ہے حالانکہ عدالت کے واضح احکامات موجود ہیں۔ کوئی فون کال نہیں، کوئی ملاقات نہیں اور زندگی کی کوئی خبر نہیں۔ میں اور… pic.twitter.com/c0dhujWiSO
— Kasim Khan (@Kasim_Khan_1999) November 27, 2025
The family had also sought access to let Imran’s personal physician into the jail, which has now been denied for over a year.
A jail official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said that Imran was in good health, adding that he was not aware of any plan to move him to another facility.
"This isolation is intentional," Kasim said, referring to the authorities he believes are keeping his father cut off. "They are scared of him. He is Pakistan's most popular leader, and they know they cannot defeat him democratically."
The family says that the lack of communication was part of a deliberate effort to push the former Prime Minister out of public sight.
Kasim and his older brother Suleiman Isa Khan live in London with their mother Jemima Goldsmith, who has kept a distance from Pakistan’s dynastic politics.
Kasim said that the last time they saw their father was in November 2022, when they visited Pakistan after he survived an assassination attempt.
"That image has stayed with me ever since. Seeing our father in that state is something you don't forget," he said, "We were told he would recover with time. Now, after weeks of total silence and no proof of life, that memory carries a different weight."
"This is not just a political dispute," Kasim said. "It is a human rights emergency. Pressure must come from every direction. We draw strength from him, but we need to know he is safe."
