In a fresh political flashpoint, Kasim Khan, son of jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, has accused the federal government of deliberately refusing to process visa applications for him and his brother, in what he says is a bid to stop them from seeing their ailing father.
Speaking in a post on social platform X on Wednesday, Kasim said he and sibling Sulaiman Khan have been trying to travel from London, where they live with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, to Pakistan to visit their father. He claimed Imran, incarcerated since August 2023, has been kept in solitary confinement for 914 days, with his health deteriorating and without access to independent medical care.
“My brother and I are trying to travel to Pakistan to see our father… Now the government is deliberately refusing to process our visas,” Kasim said, calling the move “collective punishment.”
Kasim urged international human rights organisations and foreign governments to intervene “before irreversible harm is done,” framing the visa issue as part of broader concerns over his father’s treatment.
The Express Tribune report noted that Kasim and Sulaiman have previously sought to draw global attention to Imran’s situation, even appealing to former US President Donald Trump to help secure his release.
PTI has also alleged, citing an unnamed source in the interior ministry, that the government intends to withhold visas altogether, using technicalities rather than outright rejection to delay approvals as long as possible.
Officials have countered such claims, with government representatives previously denying an intentional block on the brothers’ travel plans. However, this week’s statements from Kasim revive a bitter dispute over family access and political pressure.
The visa row unfolds against a backdrop of growing scrutiny over Imran’s detention conditions, including reports of late medical treatment at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and PTI’s condemnation of what it called a “secret transfer” kept hidden from family and party leaders.
As tensions mount, the episode adds another layer to Pakistan’s fraught political climate, underscoring deep mistrust between the government and PTI loyalists over transparency, human rights, and the rights of detained political figures.
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Ateeq Ur Rehman
