Aleema Khan, the sister of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, said on Saturday that the former premier spoke to his sons for approximately 20 minutes and was “extremely happy to hear their voices”.
The development comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the formation of a medical team to examine Imran after a report submitted by his lawyer, Salman Safdar, revealed that the former prime minister had lost 85 per cent of the vision in his right eye. The court had also directed that he be allowed to speak to his children. In a post on X on Saturday, Aleema said, “The chief justice of Pakistan had directed that Imran Khan be allowed to speak with his sons. We can confirm that he was able to speak with them for approximately 20 minutes. “His sons shared that he was extremely happy to hear their voices after such a long time,” she said.
“We are now awaiting his urgent medical treatment at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad under the supervision of his personal doctors, where specialist doctors must make every possible effort to restore his eyesight,” she said.
“The intentional delay in providing him timely treatment has already caused damage to his eyesight. We cannot and will not tolerate any further delay, and immediate specialist care is essential to prevent any permanent loss of vision,” she said. It is worth mentioning that Imran’s sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, have repeatedly said over the past year that they have been unable to meet their father since his arrest.
On Thursday, after the report regarding Imran’s vision loss was submitted to the court, Kasim had termed the development “a direct consequence of solitary confinement and medical neglect”.
“We have been informed that my father, Imran Khan, has lost most of the vision in his right eye, with reports indicating that only 15pc eyesight remains,” he said.
“This is the direct consequence of 922 days of solitary confinement, medical neglect (denied blood tests), and the deliberate denial of proper treatment in jail,” he stressed, maintaining that the “responsibility lies squarely with the regime in power, the army chief and the puppets enabling this cruelty”. He said that Imran’s “physical deterioration is happening under their orders, their watch and their responsibility”. “They have manipulated and warped the justice system in order to keep my father in solitary confinement,” he added. He claimed that he and his brother Sulaiman were “still being denied a visa to see our father as his health deteriorates”.