Imran Khan dead or alive? Sons fear the worst as Adiala Jail authorities deny meeting, say ‘something irreversible’ being…

Nearly a week after rumors about the alleged assassination of Imran Khan, his sons have raised fears that authorities might be concealing “something irreversible” about the former Pakistan prime minister’s condition as the family has not been allowed to meet him at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, despite court orders.

Why Imran Khan’s son’s demand proof of life?

Kasim Khan, Imran’s youngest son, said the family has had no direct or verifiable contact with the jailed leader, and there is no evidence that he is still alive as they do not have any update about his condition even after more than three weeks.

“Not knowing whether your father is safe, injured or even alive is a form of psychological torture. Today we have no verifiable information at all about his condition. Our greatest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us,” Kasim Khan told Reuters, adding that they’ve had no independently confirmed communication with Imran Khan for a couple of months.

Kasim called his father’s isolation “intentional”, and said the authorities are keeping Imran cut off because “they are scared of him”. “He is Pakistan’s most popular leader and they know they cannot defeat him democratically.”

Kasim and his older brother Suleiman Isa Khan, who live in London with their mother and Imran Khan’s ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith, have kept a distance from Pakistan’s politics, and have barely spoken publicly, mainly about Khan’s incarceration.

According to Kasim, the last time they saw their father was in November 2022, when they visited Pakistan after he survived an assassination attempt.

“That image has stayed with me ever since. Seeing our father in that state is something you don’t forget, We were told he would recover with time. Now, after weeks of total silence and no proof of life, that memory carries a different weight,” he said.

What happened to Imran Khan in Adiala Jail?

On Wednesday, unverified reports triggered a political firestorm by claiming that Imran Khan had been “assassinated” inside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where he has been incarcerated since August 2023.

The rumors stemmed from reports, that cited “sources” to claim that the former Pakistani premier has been killed. Several posts, including one from an X handle claiming to represent the “Ministry of Foreign Affairs Baluchistan”, carried a purported image showing Khan lying motionless on a stretcher.

However, independent fact-checkers noted that the image of Imran Khan being circulated on social media handles is from November 2022, when the jailed ex-PM had indeed survived an assassination attempt.

Imran Khan, 73, who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022, has been incarcerated at the Adiala Jail since August 2023.

What did jail authorities say?

Adiala Jail authorities refuted the rumors of Imran Khan’s death as “baseless”, asserting that the former Prime Minister is in “completely good health” inside the high-security jail.

“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership has been informed regarding Imran Khan’s health. All necessary care is being provided to the PTI chief,” the Adiala Jail administration said in a statement on Thursday, also rejected reports about the 73-year-old being shifted from the Rawalpindi jail.

“Imran Khan is in Adiala Jail and is healthy. The social media rumours about his transfer are unfounded,” it said.