Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan, sons of the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, met with Richard Grenell, an aide to US President Donald Trump, on Tuesday. This meeting took place in anticipation of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest aimed at securing their father’s release from prison. The 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician has been held since August 2023, facing multiple charges ranging from corruption to terrorism, following his removal from power via an opposition no-confidence motion in April 2022.
The sons of the jailed PTI founder first publicly highlighted their father’s imprisonment in May. In June, Kasim Khan voiced his apprehension regarding Imran’s condition in jail on X, stating, “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.”
Following today’s meeting, Grenell, the US special presidential envoy for special missions, posted on X that he had met with Sulaiman and Kasim in California, encouraging them to “stay strong.” He added, “There are millions of people around the world who are sick of political prosecutions. You are not alone.”
Also present at the meeting was Dr. Asif Mahmood, a Pakistani-American physician, who shared a picture with Grenell and the former premier’s sons. Dr. Mahmood expressed “immense pride for Kasim and Sulaiman Khan for their bravery in fighting for their father, former prime minister Imran Khan’s freedom.” He also commended Grenell for “standing for justice and principle” and called for unity to secure the PTI founder’s release.
Separately, Kasim also took to X, condemning the current government over his father’s “imprisonment and torture.” He asserted that his father had given everything for the country—”sacrificing comfort, peace, and safety to fight for Pakistan’s future.” He further wrote, “Today, he is silenced, tortured, imprisoned, and completely cut off from us. From the moment we could understand, he taught my brother and me how devastating a corrupt government can be. To see him now accused of that very crime is a cruel, intolerable irony.”
Earlier this month, Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, informed reporters in Rawalpindi that his sons, Sulaiman and Kasim, had decided to travel from the United Kingdom (UK) to the US and would eventually come to Pakistan to participate in the PTI’s protest campaign against the government. “Firstly, they are going to America and they’re telling all their friends, ‘And we will go and tell them [US administration] about the human rights [situation] and what injustice is being done to their father [in Pakistan],’” Aleema stated. “Secondly, Sulaiman [and] Qasim have said, ‘After that, we will come to Pakistan.’ And they want to play their part in the [protest] movement.” Following Aleema’s remarks, senior government officials hinted that Khan’s sons could face arrest if they enter Pakistan and join the PTI protest, scheduled for later this month or the next. In response, Jemima Goldsmith strongly criticized the Pakistani government for threatening to prevent her sons from having any contact with their father.
