Latest news with #SulaimanKhan
Arab News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Imran Khan's sons to lobby US, march in Pakistan in new protest movement — sister
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan's sons, Sulaiman Khan and Kasim Khan, will lobby in the United States (US) about Pakistan's human rights record before traveling to the South Asian country to join a protest movement by their father's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Khan's sister announced on Tuesday. The PTI last week announced it would launch a nationwide protest movement against the government after the Islamic month of Muharram, days after Pakistan's top court denied the party reserved parliamentary seats for minorities and women. Khan's party has frequently held protests in recent years, demanding a probe into Feb. 2024 election results and the release of Khan, who has been jailed for nearly two years. His sons live in the UK and have not visited Pakistan in years, facing criticism by Khan opponents for not joining demonstrations for their father's release, which his party was calling supporters from all over the nation to join. Khan's sister, Aleema Khan, told reporters in Rawalpindi on Tuesday that his sons, Sulaiman and Kasim, had decided to travel from the United Kingdom (UK) to the US and would eventually arrive in Pakistan to play their role in the PTI's protest campaign against the government. 'Firstly, they are going to America and they're telling all their friends, 'And we will go and tell them [US administration] about the human rights [situation] and what injustice is being done to their father [in Pakistan]',' Aleema said. 'Secondly, Sulaiman [and] Qasim have said, 'After that, we will come to Pakistan.' And they want to play their part in the [protest] movement.' This is not the first time Khan's sons have spoken about Pakistan's domestic politics and their father, who has been in jail on corruption and other charges. In a rare interview with business influencer and citizen journalist Mario Nawfal in May, they had urged US President Donald Trump and the 'people of influence' around the world to help free their father from prison, speaking of alleged 'suppression of democracy' in Pakistan and a lack of basic facilities for Khan in his prison cell. Khan's PTI has held frequent protests demanding his release and against the Pakistani government over what it says were rigged general elections in Feb. 2024 and a campaign to subdue PTI and its support base since Khan's ouster from the PM's office in April 2022. Pakistani authorities deny the allegations and accuse the ex-premier and his party of leading violent anti-government protests in the past, particularly in May 2023 and Nov. 2024. Hundreds of PTI supporters were jailed after riots allegedly ordered by the party against the army on May 9, 2023, while the government says four troops were killed in protests in November last year to demand Khan's release. The PTI denies instigating followers to violence. The PTI announced the latest round of protests after the Supreme Court's constitutional bench on June 27 ruled that the party was not entitled to reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, upholding an earlier verdict by the Peshawar High Court. The dispute arose after the PTI lost its electoral symbol ahead of the February 8, 2024 national polls and its candidates contested as independents. Despite PTI-backed candidates winning the most general seats, the party was denied reserved seats for women and minorities, which are allocated to political parties based on proportional representation, by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The government lost its two-thirds majority in parliament in July 2024 when the top court reversed the ECP's decision, terming it unconstitutional and ordering the reserved seats to be allocated to PTI. The ECP and the political parties had filed review petitions, which were accepted by the top court last week.
Arab News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Former Pakistan PM Khan's sons urge Trump administration to play role for father's release
ISLAMABAD: The sons of former prime minister Imran Khan have urged United States (US) President Donald Trump and the international community to help free their jailed father, appealing to 'people of influence' to press for his release. Khan has been in jail for nearly two years on a slew of charges that he says are politically motivated. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has held frequent protests demanding his release and frequently agitated against the Pakistani government over what it says were rigged general elections in Feb. 2024 and a campaign to subdue PTI supporters since his ouster from the PM's office in April 2022. Pakistani authorities deny Khan's allegations, accusing the ex-premier and his party of leading violent anti-government protests in the past, particularly in May 2023 and Nov. 2024. On May 9, 2023, frenzied mobs across the country carrying flags of Khan's party attacked government and military installations, while a protest in Nov. to demand Khan's release killed four troops during clashes, officials say. The PTI denies instigating followers to violence and accuses the military and its political rivals of resorting to rights abuses against its supporters. They both deny the charges. During a rare interview, conducted by entrepreneur, business influencer and citizen journalist Mario Nawfal, Khan's sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, spoke about the alleged 'suppression of democracy' in Pakistan, a lack of basic facilities for Khan in his prison cell. They said he was being kept on 'trumped up charges,' and called on the Trump administration and the international community to press Islamabad for his release. 'Anyone who looks into it a little can kind of see that,' Suleiman said. 'In terms of a message to the Trump administration, we'd call for any government that supports free speech and proper democracy to join the call for our father's release, and especially the most powerful leader in the world.' The former cricket-star-turned politician, who was believed to have been brought into power by Pakistan's powerful military, fell out with the generals. His party accuses the military, which has ruled Pakistan for nearly have of its history and holds sway in politics even when not in power, of colluding with Khan's rivals to keep him out of politics. The military and Khan's rivals deny this. In Dec. 2024, Khan's party held negotiations with the government to ease political tensions in the country. However, talks broke down in Jan. after the PTI pulled away, accusing the government of not fulfilling its two principal demands of forming judicial commissions to investigate the 2023 and 2024 protests. The government rubbished the PTI's allegations, accusing the party of 'unilaterally' abandoning talks without waiting for the government to respond to its demands. Sulaiman said there was a tradition of 'dynastic politics' in Pakistan, dominated by two main parties, and his father wanted to break away from that tradition. Khan's elder son, Kasim, said they just wanted the international community to see what had been going on in Pakistan and 'hopefully take action.' 'We'd love to speak to Trump or try and figure out a way where he would be able to help out in some way because at the end of the day, all we are trying to do is free our father, bring democracy in Pakistan and just ensure his basic human rights,' Kasim said. The calls from Khan's sons for his release came a day before the hearing of a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking Khan's release on parole, which was filed by his party's chief minister in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Besides speaking with Nawfal of their time with Khan and family interactions, Sulaiman also appealed to 'people of influence' around the world to speak for their father's release. 'I think that would be huge, just to create a bit more noise because it's definitely gone a bit quiet recently,' he said. 'We would love people to reach out to us if they have some influence or potential to help with this situation.'
