By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The sons of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan have applied for special identity cards and visas to visit their father in jail, thrusting a personal mission into the heart of an escalating political storm.
Khan, 71, has been locked up since August 2023, entangled in a £190 million corruption case and a slew of charges linked to violent protests. Now, as his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party gears up for a major anti-government demonstration this week, the prospect of his British-national sons arriving in Pakistan has sparked confusion, government scrutiny, and a fresh wave of tension.
The brothers, Sulaiman Khan, 28, and Kasim Khan, 26, find themselves navigating a bureaucratic maze to secure National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) and visas, documents that would grant them access to a country their father once led.
Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, told reporters outside Adiala Jail about the brothers’ efforts to secure travel documents. “The Nicop of one [brother] is missing and the other can’t find his card, so they’ve submitted two applications: one for their Nicop, which is valid for the next six to seven years, and another for a visa, which can be issued within an hour,” she said.
Khanum bristled at the interior ministry’s claim that no applications had been received. “I have access to tracking numbers,” she said. “They have Nicop, they have British passports. So what issue do they have in issuing a visa?”
The government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), insists it’s not standing in the way. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, speaking at a private television channel promised swift action. “If the PTI founder’s sons have applied for Pakistani visas, they will be granted without any hindrance,” he said, noting that visas could be issued “in less than 24 hours” if the brothers meet legal requirements.
Chaudhry acknowledged their dual status: “If they choose to seek consular assistance as British citizens, they are still entitled to do so regardless of whether they entered on a Visa or Nicop.” Offering a practical fix, Chaudhry added, “If there’s a delay and they provide me the tracking numbers, I’ll resolve it myself.”
The timing of the sons’ plans amplifies their significance. PTI has rallied its supporters for a nationwide protest on August 5, marking two years since Khan’s imprisonment began. The push follows months of stalled negotiations with the government over a judicial probe into the May 9, 2023, riots and a tense November 2024 demonstration in Islamabad.
For Sulaiman and Kasim, who have lived largely out of the public eye, the trip is both a personal quest and a bold step onto Pakistan’s volatile political stage. They’ve already carried their father’s cause beyond Pakistan’s borders. Last month, the brothers travelled to the United States to press lawmakers for support, part of a broader campaign to spotlight Khan’s plight.
Kasim, in particular, has found his voice online. “My father, former prime minister Imran Khan, has now spent over 700 days in prison, held in solitary confinement,” he tweeted in June. “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.”
Back home, their potential arrival has stirred unease among officials. Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik warned that foreigners are barred from assembling under Article 16 of Pakistan’s Constitution. “If they violate the visa conditions, the visa can be cancelled,” he said, signalling the government’s wariness of the brothers joining PTI’s protests.
Within PML-N, views diverge: Senator Irfan Siddiqui argued they should be allowed to visit and “carry out their activities” within legal bounds, while Malik’s stance hints at stricter oversight.
Khan’s legal woes trace back to his ouster in April 2022, when a no-confidence vote toppled his government. Since then, he’s faced a barrage of charges, corruption, terrorism, incitement, keeping him behind bars and fuelling PTI’s narrative of political persecution. The sons’ bid to see him comes as the party doubles down, dismissing reports this week that Khan had forbidden them from traveling to Pakistan or joining protests. “They intend to visit their father,” a PTI spokesperson clarified.
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