Former India captain Kapil Dev has called on Pakistan authorities to ensure proper medical treatment and humane conditions for jailed former Pakistan prime minister and captain Imran Khan, as part of a renewed appeal by 22 former international cricket captains. The group has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif seeking the implementation of court-ordered medical care and family visits for Khan. “Law is a law for everybody,” Kapil Dev said during an interaction with NDTV at the announcement of Race to DP World India Championship.
“Give him whatever the least one person at that place reached there. Of course, he was a former prime minister. They have to see that the condition of the place where they put him and other medical facilities should be good enough.”
Kapil said the appeal focused on Khan’s health, not the legal cases against him.
“As a cricket fellow, we can ask Pakistan and request them, give him a better treatment. Law will take their time, but you can give them a better treatment,” he said.
“We are only concerned about that, not concerned about what he has done wrong or right. We the captains have called for an independent medical assessment by the medical board ordered by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, including Khan’s personal physicians. They have specifically sought an assessment of reports that Khan has suffered a loss of vision in his right eye.”
The letter also calls for weekly family visits, which the court has mandated, to be restored without administrative delays or interruptions. 22 former captains of world cricket have further urged authorities to ensure that any treatment recommended by the independent medical board is provided to Khan without delay.
The appeal was initiated by former Australia captain Greg Chappell and is the second such appeal by international cricket figures to the Pakistani government in six months.
Among the Indian signatories are Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar. Other former international captains backing the appeal include West Indies’ Clive Lloyd, England’s Alastair Cook and Australia’s Allan Border.
The signatories said their intervention was non-political and based on their shared connection through cricket and concerns about basic humane treatment.
