Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, Imran Khan, has strictly prohibited his sons from visiting Pakistan, emphasizing that they will not participate in any protest activities. The former prime minister’s sons were reportedly in the United States, engaging with the country’s lawmakers, ostensibly to lobby for their father’s release, ahead of their anticipated visit to Pakistan before the August 5 protest.
Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, had previously asserted that his sons — Suleman Khan (28) and Kasim Khan (26) — would be taking part in the protest, which is scheduled to advocate for the ex-premier’s release.
“My sons will not be coming to Pakistan. They will neither be part of any protest nor will they lead any protest,” Khan, who was ousted as prime minister in April 2022, informed reporters from Adiala jail. In response to a query regarding his sister’s claim about his sons’ participation in protests, he stated unequivocally: “I am telling you, they aren’t coming to Pakistan and they will not take part in any protest.”
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also confirmed that the party is not in communication with the sons, but acknowledged their right to meet their father. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been incarcerated since August 2023, facing multiple charges ranging from corruption to terrorism, since his removal from power through an opposition no-confidence motion in April 2022.
Kasim publicly drew attention to his father’s imprisonment for the first time in May. Taking to X in June, he voiced significant concern over Imran’s welfare in jail. He penned: “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 stands for rule of law, democracy and Pakistan.”
The former ruling party formally initiated its anti-government campaign earlier this month, following a high-level meeting in Lahore, with its “peak” expected by August 5. Among other objectives, the protest movement seeks to secure the release of party founder Imran Khan, who will complete two years in detention on August 5. The latest phase of the anti-government drive by the Imran Khan-founded party commences months after its negotiations with the government stalled over the contentious issue of establishing a judicial commission to investigate the May 9 riots and the November 2024 Islamabad protest.
