PTI founder Imran Khan’s son Kasim Khan has said he and his brother Suleiman have applied for their visas and are planning a trip to Pakistan in January, while also commenting on the conditions in which the ex-premier was kept and saying that he was being held in a “death cell”.
The remarks were made during an interview to Yalda Hakim for Sky News, which came as another sit-in held outside Adiala jail by Imran’s sisters over being denied a meeting with him was dispersed using water cannons; the party alleged that authorities used “chemical-laced” water.
As court-ordered prison visits stay blocked, Imran’s family and party have expressed concerns about the conditions in which he is being kept inside the prison.
During their interview with Hakim, released early on Wednesday, Kasim and Suleiman, who live in London, were asked whether they had tried to engage with the Pakistani government to get permission to visit Imran.
Hakim also noted that they had previously talked about “being warned not to come” even though Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said they “were welcome to come and can visit him [Imran]”.
At that, Kasim replied: “We are now planning to because they said it openly. So — unless they go against their word — we should be hopefully going in January. We have applied for our visas. […] It hasn’t come through yet. We are expecting it to come through, so we are planning a trip in January.”
Yalda then asked them what they would say to Imran upon seeing him, and whether they would ask him to consider “cutting a deal”.
This, seemingly, was a reference to the possibility of a deal between Imran and Pakistan’s rulers for the ex-premier’s release from jail.
But Kasim explained that “what you have to understand is it’s his life. It’s literally his passion and his goal. He calls it his life purpose to help rid Pakistan of corruption”.
“And so if he just took a deal and came over to us and lived in England, I know there would be this burning desire and this aching that he has left his country for dead. And he would be depressed to be honest. I know he would.
“This is his goal, and as much as we’d love to have our father watching all of our cricket matches or football matches over here, he has a purpose which is far greater. So, you can only respect it.”
Asked what else they would want to say to Imran or what message they would to send to him, Kasim said, “I want to know how we can get him out, how we can help because the main point is we feel so helpless at this point. I mean, there’s so much to catch up on.”
He also shared that during their interactions, Imran would always refuse to talk about his conditions.
“He’s like, ‘Oh, you know, don’t worry about me. How’s everything?’” Kasim said, adding that he would also enquire about their grandmother Lady Annabel Goldsmith.
