New Delhi: The airing of an 18-minute interview with Kasim and Sulaiman Khan about Imran Khan’s incarceration at the Lord’s lunch interval during the Pakistan-England test has become a full-blown crisis.
Pakistan’s Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday threw a fit and refused to let the national cricket team play with England after Sky Sports broadcast former cricketer Michael Atherton’s interview with Imran Khan’s sons. However, later it relented.
Meanwhile, Pakistanis are happy the PCB is getting ‘exposed’ on the global stage.
Imran Khan’s party, PTI, in a post on X responded to the controversy saying, “Small men in big offices.”
The PCB-Sky Sports standoff
The PCB had objected to the broadcast and asked Sky Sports not to air the interview during the lunch break. According to a Guardian report, the board warned that Pakistan’s players might not return to the field if the segment was broadcast. The PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, also serves as Pakistan’s interior minister and is known to be one of the closest aides of Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir in the government.
Sky Sports nevertheless proceeded. After tense discussions between officials, Pakistan’s players returned for the afternoon session and the match continued as scheduled. The play eventually ended early because of bad light.
What Imran Khan’s sons said
Khan’s sons, during the interview, meanwhile described their father as being held in highly restrictive conditions and expressed alarm over his health. They said he spends more than 23 hours a day in his cell and described him as increasingly stressed and isolated. Kasim Khan accused the authorities of deliberately keeping his father imprisoned and silenced.
“It is not very clear what they are doing, just blatantly trying to kill him in there. Keep him in as long as possible and silence him,” he added.
The former PM was taken to a government hospital in Islamabad last week after a Supreme Court ruling allowed a temporary medical visit, but was then sent back to prison after a midnight checkup. His sons said the hospital visit provided little meaningful treatment before he was sent back.
Imran Khan remains the country’s most famous former captain, having led Pakistan to its first and only Cricket World Cup title in 1992, before entering politics and eventually becoming prime minister.
Atherton too is one of 21 former international cricket captains who have signed appeals calling for Khan to receive humane treatment and appropriate medical care. Atherton has recently spoken publicly about his decision to join the campaign, saying that the former Pakistan captain should not be forgotten.
Pakistanis react online
On X, Pakistanis were happy about the episode. For them, it was the PCB exposing itself.
Najeeb Ullah, a Pakistani cricket commentator, highlighted Atherton’s continued advocacy during the live coverage and how he called it ‘a humanitarian appeal’.
“England’s Former Captain, Mike Atherton, spoke out & raised his voice during the live Pak vs Eng match, speaking out about Imran Khan’s health and the atrocities being committed against him. This must be an embarrassment for the Pakistani regime, but shame is clearly beyond them,” X user Mubarak Khan said.
“Good to see the whole world hear about Pakistan’s brutal military dictatorship during the lunch break on the first day of the Test match at Lord’s”, Pakistani activist Mehlaqa Samdani added.
Another user, Abdullah, said the confrontation had exposed the PCB to international scrutiny and challenged Pakistan’s team to take the dispute further.
“I’m glad PCB did this and exposed to the world how shallow and petty they are and how IK has been suffering under these ppl. Now they should show the same bravery IK has shown in the last 3 years and not take the field tomorrow, but they don’t have what it takes to do that.”
Some Pakistanis also noted how PTV, the state broadcaster, played a commercial midway instead of airing the interview. X user Mubarak Khan called it the ‘personal servant’ of Asim Munir, while another cheekily noted that given the condition of the cricket team Mohsin Naqvi had sent to play, Sky Sports probably took a better decision to air an interview instead to gain viewership.
“It’s wild that Sky Sports decided that Mohsin Naqvi has sent such a dogshit team to England that the only way they will get more eyeballs on the series is if they air an interview with IK’s kids about his character incarceration by the tinpot dictator”, the tweet read.
The tussle also went beyond mere anger. When Atherton pointed out Khan’s portrait in the Lord’s Long Room during the Sky Sports interview, with a shot showing both his sons looking at it, the PCB responded by posting a picture of former cricketers posing with former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq in the same room.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)