Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The Pakistan Cricket Board threatened that its team would not return to the pitch at Lord’s if Sky Sports aired an interview with Imran Khan’s sons.
Khan’s sons accused the Pakistani government of “trying to kill” the imprisoned former Prime Minister and legendary cricket captain in a pre-recorded interview in the Lord’s pavilion, where a portrait of Imran hangs.
The chairman of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, is also Pakistan’s Minister of the Interior, and they were unhappy with the interview’s content.
The PCB complained to Sky about the interview. As ESPN CricInfo reported, British broadcaster Sky delayed airing the interview during that dialogue before eventually running the 18-minute clip.
While the interview was still airing, Pakistan’s players were already warming up on the outfield in preparation for the afternoon session. Play then resumed as normal after the brief threat of a delay.
The PCB was approached for comment.
Khan, 73, became prime minister when his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took power in 2018, the latest chapter in a colourful and eventful life that included playing 88 Test matches and winning the 1992 World Cup.
Khan has been in jail in Pakistan for the last three years for a string of allegations that followed his ousting as prime minister in August 2022.
Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, Imran’s sons from his marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, voiced concerns about his treatment.
Calls have come from around the world, including from a group of 21 former international cricket captains and family in the UK, for Khan to be treated better while imprisoned amid concerns over his health.
The brothers have not seen their father since November 2022, and last spoke to him in March.
They say he has lost 80 per cent of his vision in one eye, lives in a “very small cell without any new books” for 23 hours a day, with “no proper air conditioning in summer”. He is said to have rising blood pressure “due to the stress of isolation and solitary confinement”, according to Sulaiman.
“They [Khan’s captors] are not even acting with any kind of strategy anymore,” said Kasim. “It is not very clear what they are doing, just blatantly trying to kill him in there. Keep him in as long as possible, and silence him.
“The last time he was able to speak to our aunties and anyone else, he said the conditions have severely worsened recently. He has been relating it to other political prisoners who have been killed or who have died in prison. Right now, it is worse than ever, completely isolating him more than 23 hours a day in a cell.
“Right now, it’s really crucial for us that he gets proper treatment. He had an eye patch on for the eye situation, seemed visibly stressed, and that is something that is very hard for us to imagine because he embodies a very calm, assured presence, every time I have ever seen him, including being at gunpoint. A car we were in was robbed, and he was the calmest person there, including the robbers.”
Last week, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered that Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, and remain there until at least September 16, which would have been the longest he has spent outside of prison since he was first jailed.
“We were cautiously optimistic,” said Sulaiman. “Our fears were confirmed when instead of being taken to the private hospital, where he was meant to be taken, he was just taken to a government medical facility for a few hours, and then taken straight back to jail.”
Kasim continued: “In reality it was an hour check up by government officials who said ‘great he’s OK’ and then said we will now send him to the independent hospital, Shifa. Instead, they left all the doctors waiting, our auntie waiting, who is a doctor, and sent him straight back to jail.”
Kasim and Sulaiman say they have tried to visit their father in Pakistan “multiple times” but have seen their visas blocked “for technical reasons”.
They also described the response of the UK government as “feeble”.
“We have been disappointed,” said Sulaiman. “Whenever we have reached out to the foreign office, or the previous foreign secretary, there has just been such a feeble response. They say, ‘that is terrible to hear, we sympathise’, and then we hear nothing.”
Kasim added: “[Under the previous government] there wasn’t much action, in fact, there was zero support. They actively said we shouldn’t go to Pakistan, and they wouldn’t be able to support us if we did. We are hoping that with the new foreign secretary, with Ed Miliband, we might be able to have a bit more success, and we might be able to see him.”
The brothers are set to attend Lord’s on Saturday, and said they will be supporting Pakistan.
Alongside the interview, Sky ran responses from the Pakistan government, as reported by Associated Press. The administration in Islamabad rejected allegations of mistreatment or medical neglect.
Telegraph, London
