Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister and cricket captain, Imran Khan, have to be given “humane therapy and correct medical care”, urge a bunch of cricket greats in a letter seen by Al Jazeera and addressed to Pakistan’s present Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Twenty-one former captains from around the globe have appealed to Sharif’s authorities to permit an impartial evaluation of Khan’s well being, reinstate his weekly household visits and supply him with the required medical therapy at once, 4 signatories of the letter confirmed to Al Jazeera late on Sunday.
Khan, 73, has been imprisoned for the previous three years on a spread of fees.
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Courtroom ordered native authorities to switch Khan from Adiala jail to the privately run Shifa International Hospital by midnight on Thursday. Nevertheless on Saturday, Khan’s get together, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), filed a contempt petition towards the federal government after he was despatched to a state-run hospital as a substitute of the non-public facility ordered by the highest courtroom, get together officers mentioned.
Khan is extensively considered one of many world’s greatest-ever all-rounders and arguably Pakistan’s biggest cricketer, who led his nation to its first World Cup win in 1992 and holds the document for many worldwide wins for a Pakistani captain.
Khan’s former cricket adversaries turned pals mentioned the current occasions prompted them to pen a letter to Sharif, who changed the PTI founder as prime minister in April 2022 and once more after Pakistan’s final common election in February 2024.
The letter, dated August 23, follows similar outreach in February by 14 former worldwide cricket captains who raised considerations over Khan’s deteriorating well being and alleged mistreatment throughout his imprisonment.
“We wrote then not as politicians, however as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond cast on the cricket subject — one which transcends the borders and disputes that too typically divide international locations,” mentioned the letter.
“We write once more now — joined by seven additional former captains — due to what has reportedly simply occurred,” learn the letter, whose signatories embrace cricket Corridor of Famers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, John Wright and David Gower.
No Pakistani names amongst signatories
Greg Chappell, who shared a pleasant bond with Khan following their retirement from cricket, initiated the letter on each events.
Lloyd advised Al Jazeera on Sunday that he contributed to the letter. Former England captains David Gower, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton additionally confirmed signing it.
Notably, no former Pakistani cricketers had been among the many signatories of each letters, though a number of star gamers have publicly voiced considerations over Khan’s well being prior to now.
Gavaskar, Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar are the three Indian gamers among the many 21, whereas former Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, is the opposite South Asian title.
Former Australian girls’s crew captains Alex Blackwell and Belinda Clark are additionally on the checklist of signatories.
The letter praised the “welcome steps” of the Supreme Courtroom ordering Khan’s switch to a non-public hospital for medical examination by a board that included private physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan.
The signatories requested the federal government that:
- The medical board directed by the Supreme Courtroom — together with Khan’s personal docs — be permitted to finish a full and impartial evaluation of his well being, notably the reported lack of imaginative and prescient in his proper eye.
- The weekly household visits reinstated by the courtroom be honoured with out interruption or administrative delay.
- Regardless of the consequence of that medical evaluation, the therapy beneficial by or not it’s offered at once.
The previous cricketers lamented Khan’s short-lived hospital go to. They reiterated the considerations raised by his household, who mentioned the examination by a state-appointed crew and swift return after being declared “medically match” fell wanting what the Supreme Courtroom ordered.
“Regardless of the authorized and political arguments surrounding his case, the essential decency of guaranteeing a court-ordered medical course of is definitely accomplished will not be, in our view, a controversial request,” the letter mentioned.
“It’s one we imagine each nation that performs this sport would recognise as honest.”
The Pakistan authorities didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s request for a remark.
Full checklist of signatories: Michael Atherton, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Prepare dinner, Sunil Gavaskar, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev Nikhanj, Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga, Sir Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Stephen Waugh, John Wright.
Chappell praises Khan’s charisma and energy
Following the primary enchantment made to the Pakistani authorities in February, Greg Chappell wrote and spoke about his bond with Khan and what prompted him to take the lead in writing the letter.
He mentioned that the letter was meant to focus on a human rights concern reasonably than be a political intervention and admitted being pleasantly shocked at how shortly it got here collectively since everybody was in the identical boat.
“This appears to have had some actual impression,” Chappell mentioned as he emphasised the necessity for the primary letter to have “long-lasting impression” reasonably than fizzle out within the subsequent information cycle.
The previous Australian captain praised the charisma Khan wielded each on the sphere as a cricketer and later when he entered politics.
“Individuals had been threatened by somebody like Imran due to his aura, private energy and allure,” he advised the Cricket Et Al podcast in February.
“They had been threatened by him and clearly that’s performed its half on this.”
