Why Pakistan Is Watching Imran Khan's Sons Like It Once Watched Benazir Bhutto

India.com

14-07-2025

New Delhi: When power is stripped away, who carries the flame forward? The question echoes in Pakistan's charged political landscape. At a time when Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi houses a former prime minister (Imran Khan) behind its stone walls and iron bars, a wave brews outside. The call for resistance has been raised again by his party (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf). This time, the murmurs grow louder for who might step forward.
In drawing rooms and digital spaces, people speak of two young men living far from the heat of Pakistani politics, their faces known more from photographs than podiums. Qasim and Suleman, Khan's sons.
For years, they remained at a distance both geographically and politically. Britain shaped their upbringing. Their mother's world shaped their privacy. Even when their father held the highest office in the land, their names never touched political headlines. But something shifted.
In the last few weeks, voices close to them suggest the two brothers now want to be seen and heard. They have spoken, they have given interviews and they have questioned why their father has been cut off from them. Some around them have said they first plan to travel to the United States. There, they hope to speak about the rights being denied back home. From there, they intend to come to Pakistan.
The anticipation grows.
Those close to the family say their arrival would mark a moment of emotional strength for the movement. Their presence, they believe, would stir something in the ranks of supporters who have stood confused and scattered in the absence of their leader. They speak of a new energy, something dormant reawakening. They say the supporters would gain fresh courage from the sight of their leader's blood walking beside them.
The government, on its part, has begun issuing warnings. Those in power have said the brothers could be arrested if they participate in any protests within the country. That signal alone sent ripples through Opposition circles. Some ask why sons cannot fight for their father. Others ask whether their passports would even allow entry and whether the airport would become a border too far.
People in political circles say this is intimidation, nothing more. Yet the threat feels real.
Some believe that even from abroad, the brothers can play a role. They can speak where others are silenced. They can reach out to policymakers who will not pick up calls from Pakistani politicians. They belong to a world where influence wears suits, not shalwar kameez. And they have a surname that echoes through Pakistan's alleys and courtrooms.
The whispers are no longer about whether they will step in. They are about how far they will go.
Those within their father's party speak of a new movement set to begin in August. They say the sons are ready to walk into the storm. The former prime minister's sister has already stood at the gates of Adiala, defiant and unbowed. Now, eyes turn to the sons. Some say this moment was always coming. That family steps in when institutions fail.
Observers say the protests can only succeed if the people rise every day – not once and not briefly, but as a pulse that does not fade. A political storm cannot come and go like summer rain. It must linger.
Across Pakistan, parallels are drawn. They say former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto walked this path when her father was taken from her. They recall Maryam Nawaz building her place brick by brick after her father fell. They speak of political inheritance as a fire passed down, not as entitlement, but as duty.
In drawing rooms in Islamabad, they ask if history is being rewritten again. In villages across Punjab, they ask if the sons will come. In the United Kingdom, policy watchers wonder if the boys of cricket's icon will now step into politics' bloodsport.
There are no clear answers yet. Only speculation and only waiting.
But one thing is certain. The story of Pakistan's dynasties is far from over. And a chapter, long delayed, may finally begin with the sons of a jailed leader stepping into their father's shadow.