Jemima responds to Tarar, says govt wants Imran’s sons to travel on Nicops so they will ‘not have British protection’

Jemima Goldsmith, the former spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan, on Thursday alleged that the government was reccomending that the former premier’s son travel to Pakistan on National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) as they would have “no British protection”. She issued the statement on the social media platform X in response to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. On Wednesday, the minister said Imran’s children were welcome to visit Pakistan on Nicops, for which no visa was required, provided they “fully comply with the laws of Pakistan during their stay”. “We all know that the reason you are refusing their visas and recommending they travel on Nicop cards (which they don’t have presently) is because that way they will have no British protection if you choose to arrest them on arrival,” Jemima said on X.

Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother and will have to travel to Pakistan to meet Imran, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. Tarar’s suggestion on Wednesday came after Jemima, in an appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had stated, “My sons Sulaiman and Kasim Khan applied for visas in January (again… ) to allow them to visit their father, Imran Khan, in Pakistan. The Pakistan consulate states that online visa processing normally takes 7–10 working days. It has now been 60 days.” She said the delay in the issuance of visas was despite Defence Minister Khawaja Asif publicly “promising that they (Kasim and Suleiman) could safely travel there to see their father after four years”. She added that PM’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, had made a similar commitment. Last month, Kasim had alleged that the government was “deliberately” refusing to process his and his brother’s visas. Kasim and Suleiman had said in December 2025 that the two had applied for their visas and were planning a trip to Pakistan in January. However, reports emerged last month, alleging that the government was refusing to grant Imran’s sons visas. In August 2025, Imran’s sister Aleema had also clarified that Imran’s sons had applied for Nicops as well as visas to visit Pakistan after Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry had questioned why they would need visas if they had the Nicop.