In an interesting development, Jemima Goldsmith, the former wife of Imran Khan, took to X (formerly Twitter) on October 15 to write a long post showing serious concerns about restrictions on Khan and his health in prison.
“The Pakistan authorities have stopped all visits to him by his family and his lawyers. They have also postponed all court hearings. He is now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world. His lawyers are concerned about his safety and well-being,” warned Jemima in a post that garnered global attention.
Her post comes amidst PTI’s postponement of October 15 protest in D-Chowk after government allowed a team of doctors to visit Khan in jail to allay the party’s concerns about his health.
PTI had set a condition for calling off its protest on October 15, which coincided with the day Pakistan was set to host the SCO summit in Islamabad.
There was internal opposition, including by CM KP Ali Amin Gandapur and Barrister Gohar Ali, in the PTI for announcing the protest on the same day as the SCO summit was going to take place. While some leaders, including Hammad Azhar and Salman Akram, advocated for holding the protest in any case.
Last night, Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar posted on X that former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was in good health after doctor teams examined him.
“We were informed a while ago that Alhamdulillah, Khan Saab is in good health and had exercised for an hour today. We shall get medical reports from them soon, and I will share with you, InshaAllah,” wrote Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.
However, in a twist to the story, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja last night posted on X: “Dr. Asim Yusuf returned immediately from abroad yesterday on my request. Today they stood outside Adiala Jail for hours. He was not allowed to meet Khan Sahib. Basic human behavior and the sentiments of millions of people were mocked.”
Similarly, another PTI leader, Meher Bano Qureshi, also shared concerns about the credibility of the government-appointed team of doctors that visited Imran Khan in Adiala Jail on Tuesday morning.
She wrote on X: “Dr. Asim was not allowed to meet Imran Khan today, he was kept waiting in the prison and had to leave without meeting Imran Khan. There have been serious concerns regarding his wellbeing and safety in prison and while we are being told he was seen to by two doctor’s from PIMs, how can we just take their word? Medical Reports are awaited. A better step would have been to grant Dr Faisal access. The government has shown little character or responsibility whilst PTI has shown great flexibility and maturity. Let that be known.”
Furthermore, Jemima Khan also wrote: “These actions come in the context of ongoing targeting of Imran’s family, as well as his party (PTI) members and supporters in an attempt to silence them and all political opposition in Pakistan.”
Her post, as of now, has 7.5 million views, 78 thousand likes and 59 thousand re-tweets. Some of the notables who showed support to Jemima’s post include Piers Morgan and George Galloway.
She also drew criticism from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders and supporters.
