Khan's sons accuse Pakistan army chief of vendetta as ex-PM faces harsh prison conditions

Imran Khan's two eldest sons sat down with the Guardian from their home in London this week with a stark accusation: Pakistan's army chief is methodically destroying their father through deliberate neglect and isolation. Kasim Khan, 27, and Sulaiman Khan, 29, have not spoken to their father in more than six months. They have been denied visas to return to Pakistan for nine months despite repeated applications. Yet they have become the primary voice calling attention to conditions inside Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, where the former prime minister has been held since his arrest in 2023 on corruption charges he maintains are politically fabricated.

Khan is serving a 14-year sentence in a cell measuring six feet by eight feet, held in solitary confinement without meaningful human contact. His sons describe the space as a form of deliberate punishment. Sulaiman detailed the specifics: no new books for months, no family visits, no access to an independent physician. Khan, now 73, has developed a blood clot in a retinal vein that has destroyed roughly 85 percent of the vision in his right eye—damage his sons attribute to months of medical neglect. He has also been diagnosed with high blood pressure. When the supreme court ordered Khan transferred to a private hospital for treatment last month, authorities took him instead to a government facility, administered injections, declared him fit for prison, and returned him to his cell. The family received no independent assessment of his actual condition.

The sons point directly at Asim Munir, Pakistan's chief of defence forces and army chief, as the architect of this treatment. The history between the two men is well documented. When Khan served as prime minister, he demoted Munir. The tension between them was public knowledge. When Munir ascended to army chief in 2022, the pressure on Khan intensified sharply. Sulaiman told the Guardian the pattern is unmistakable: "It's very clear this is being driven by personal grudge and that's one of the reasons he's being treated so harshly, on the orders of Asim Munir." Kasim went further, saying the family believes authorities are attempting to "slowly kill him in there," waiting for international attention to fade before tightening restrictions further.

The international community has taken notice. The United Nations has stated that Khan's prolonged detention violates international law. The UN's special rapporteur on torture has warned that his solitary confinement and detention conditions could constitute psychological torture. Last month, Sky Sports broadcast an interview with Khan's sons during coverage of a test match between England and Pakistan. The Pakistan Cricket Board, which maintains close ties to the government and whose chair also serves as interior minister, filed a formal complaint with Sky Sports. The Pakistani team threatened to walk off the field after lunch. Sulaiman saw the reaction as revealing: "It shows how out of touch they are with the rest of the world, that they thought they could silence media like they do at home."

On Wednesday, Pakistan's supreme court will rule on a contempt case alleging the government has violated court orders by denying Khan private hospital treatment, preventing family visits, and blocking communication with his family for more than six months. Later this month, Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which he founded in 1996 after retiring from international cricket, plans to organize a nationwide march demanding his release. The government has dismissed the family's account as "fake propaganda," stating in a formal statement that Khan is held in adequate conditions with access to home-cooked food, nuts, bottled water, exercise equipment, family visits, and regular medical examinations—claims that directly contradict the family's testimony and the documented absence of contact for half a year.

Khan's fall from power reveals the deeper currents at work. He came to office in 2018 with explicit military backing, promising to build a "new Pakistan" free of corruption and governed by law. His tenure was marked instead by allegations of corruption, press censorship, and persecution of opponents. In 2022, he fell out with his military patrons and was removed from power. He then began a public campaign against military influence in governance. By 2023, as his accusations against the military intensified, the tables turned. He was arrested and charged with more than 100 crimes, including corruption and sedition—charges he characterizes as fabricated political retaliation.

Despite his imprisonment, Khan retains significant public support. His sons say authorities want to "sideline him and disappear him from public life." Yet they also note that international coverage has rattled the government, suggesting the regime is not as confident in its grip as it appears. When asked whether their father might negotiate a deal with the military for his release, his closest aide, Zulfi Bukhari, offered a response that speaks to Khan's intransigence: "There is only one deal Khan would ever accept: the restoration of democracy, the rule of law and the people's mandate in Pakistan." Kasim and Sulaiman said they do not believe their father would abandon his political mission to secure freedom. "He's a very single-minded person," Kasim said. "I don't think there's a chance that he'd ever give it up." The question now is whether the supreme court's ruling this week will alter the trajectory of his confinement, or whether the pressure his sons are applying from abroad will prove insufficient against the machinery arrayed against him inside Pakistan.