Kamal Ghorui
Legendary all-rounder and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has stayed strong despite being in jail for nearly three years. He said that the authorities will never break him and that he would rather stay in prison than give up his principles revealed by his sons. Imran Khan is in jail along with his wife Bushra Bibi serving prison terms in corruption cases related to a property trust and alleged acquisition of luxury gifts. In December 2024, both were given fresh sentences in another case, extending their time in jail.Bibi has been lodged in Adiala Jail since January. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 after being removed from office through a parliamentary motion. Amid concerns over his health, he was taken earlier this week for treatment for vision loss in his right eye and later shifted back to Adiala Jail. His party has raised concerns about the treatment being carried out without the presence of his family and personal doctors. His legal team has said he has lost nearly 85 per cent vision in his right eye.According to a report in The Times Imran Khan’s sons Sulaiman Isa and Kasim revealed in a conversation with former England captain Mike Atherton that they spoke to their father for the first time since January during a call last weekend. The conversation lasted around 28 minutes, and his sons said that his resolve remains strong.
‘I’m doing OK – Imran
“We asked how he is physically, but he’s quite dismissive of that stuff. He said, ‘I’m doing OK,’ and he said his eyesight is getting a little better, so I took that as a positive. He was especially concerned this time about his wife; apparently her conditions are just as bad as his. He said they know they are never going to break him and he feels that he can handle anything, but when family and other people are involved, it gets tougher, what they [the authorities] fear, I think, is public attention; they just want to keep everything quiet – keep them silently hemmed in and slowly whittle away any kind of strength from the movement. You can see that in their petty tactics when people challenge the conditions Imran is in. They try to silently remove small liberties, like not allowing new books or turning off the power in the cell” Kasim said.Imran khan has been practicing the meditation in Jail, which has kept him mentally strong, “He’s come so far mentally and spiritually that I think, in his mind, he sees this as a trial he has to go through. I don’t think he’s affected the way he would have been even, say, ten years ago. He’s in a place where he thinks that if it has happened this way, then that is how it has to happen – despite how harsh and brutal the conditions are and how detrimental they are to his physical well-being,” Kasim added.“There would be these blackouts. He’d say the first two days were brutal, but after that he just got into this kind of meditative state and learned how to meditate and go inside himself. Funnily enough, these torture tactics have taught him how to stay in there for longer.”Imran’s sons have not seen their father since 2022. They are still waiting for visas to go to Pakistan. “He’s already had a few close shaves, like when he was shot a few years ago. I wouldn’t say you ever get used to it, but you build a bit of a thick skin for that kind of thing. I wouldn’t say we’ve been preparing for it, but I know this is his passion and he has said publicly that he’d rather die in prison than walk away from his principles,” Sulaiman told Atherton.“I know this is his passion… he has said publicly that he’d rather die in prison than walk away from his principles,” he added.
Imran Alleges ‘Inhumane Treatment’ of Bushra Bibi in Prison
Imran Khan has also alleged that his wife Bushra Bibi is facing “inhumane treatment” in prison and claimed that authorities are using her to “blackmail” him.“The judges in this country should be ashamed of themselves. Time and again we have gone to the judiciary, but they have sold their souls for personal gain,” Imran said in the statement, as reported in The Independent.“They know they cannot break me, so they turn to my wife. How can they allow this inhumane treatment of Bushra Bibi, simply to blackmail me?”
