Australian and English governments questioned about support for Imran Khan

PL reports on increasing concerns for the Prime Minister following cricket captain's petition.

Imran Khan on the campaign trail 2017

Greg Chappell and a collective of international cricket captains have shone light into the darkness within which Pakistan authorities had hoped Imran Khan would disappear, and presumably die.

That has gained international attention. We must also ask what we, as cricket fans, can do to ensure that this giant of the game and this man who has done so much for his country is treated with the humanity and dignity he deserves. Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi is also serving a 31-year sentence.

Et Al subscriber Gerard Dowling has taken a proactive approach that should be applauded:

I’m incensed. Had to do something. So I looked up the Pakistan Embassy in Australia, and sent an email to the High Commissioner Mr. Irfan Shaukat.

I just used the address for complaints on their ‘Contact us’ page - counsellor@pakistan.org.au - seems most appropriate.

I encourage others to do likewise. Maybe we can make a little groundswell of support behind Greg Chappell’s important leadership. Also keen to hear other ideas on what else we can do, so I’ll continue to monitor these comments. If anyone in Canberra wants to show up at the embassy wearing their t-shirts, with enough notice I’d make the trip from Brissie to join you.

Gerard added later:

... just used the 'Contact the Foreign Minister' form - www.foreignminister.gov.au/contact-foreign-minister - to let Penny Wong know my thoughts. Will do the same with my local member, Jim Chalmers.

As we reported here, Imran was spirited from solitary confinement to an Islamabad hospital under the cover of darkness earlier in the week.

His sister, Aleema, who had been holding a weekly vigil outside the prison with two other siblings, slammed the government’s secrecy and demanded an independent assessment of the health of the 73-year-old, who is losing sight in his right eye.

“We do not trust the diagnosis or test reports from government medical facilities.”

“We stand by our demand that Imran Khan be examined and treated in Shifa International (Islamabad) by specialists, under the supervision of Imran Khan’s personal doctors and in the presence of his family.”

“It is criminal what this government is doing, and they will be held accountable for each and every violation and crime they are committing against Imran Khan.

In the meantime, Et Al’s been ringing around Canberra to find out what our government and others are doing. There is, thankfully, some uptake on the critical issue.

A military helicopter hovers above the ground at Rawalpindi during the 2022 Pakistan v Australia Test match

This week, Greens senator David Shoebridge raised the issue of Imran’s terrible situation in a series of questions about human rights abuses in Pakistan with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a Senate estimates hearing.

Shoebridge grilled the representative about a recent social media post where the Australian High Commissioner Tim Kane met and was photographed with Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi when the Australian T20 side toured in January, and asked about what Australia had done for Imran.

A DFAT official insisted in the hearing that they had made representations on the jailed former Prime Minister’s behalf.

In relation to the case of Imran Kham, a former prime minister, we note the government of Pakistan’s continued attempts to ban the main opposition party of former prime minister Khan, his wife, PTI leaders and many party workers, we follow closely and we regularly advocate that Pakistan adhere to the rule of law and procedural fairness regarding its own constitution. We note, for instance, even calls by the Pakistan Bar Council in support of human rights. We’ve made 32 representations on human rights since the last election, including on former prime minister Khan, I note the suggestion you’ve made around his welfare, and we will consider what we may be able to do.