Imran Khan
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is a Pakistani former cricketer, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. As a cricketer, he captained the Pakistan national cricket team to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. After retiring from cricket, he founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Pakistan's first cancer hospital. He is the founder of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and was its chairman from 1996 to 2023.
Born in Lahore, he graduated from Keble College, Oxford. He began his international cricket career in a 1971 Test series against England. He advocated for neutral umpiring during his captaincy. He led Pakistan to its first-ever Test series victories in India and England during 1987. Playing until 1992, he captained the Pakistan national cricket team for most of the 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to achieving the all-rounder's triple of scoring 3,000 runs and taking 300 wickets in Tests, he holds the world record for the most wickets as a captain in Test cricket, along with the second-best bowling figures in an innings. Moreover, he has won the most Player of the Series awards in Test cricket for Pakistan and ranks fourth overall in Test history. In 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
In his bachelorhood, he had several relationships and was associated with London's nightlife. His first girlfriend, Emma Sergeant, was, according to him, the one woman he truly loved before his first marriage. He had a relationship with Ana-Luisa White, daughter of industrialist Gordon White. A California court ruled Khan to be the father of her daughter Tyrian Jade, though he denied paternity. He dated German MTV host Kristiane Backer, introducing her to Islam. He married Jemima Goldsmith in 1995, had two sons, and divorced in 2004 due to her difficulty adjusting to life in Pakistan. He married British-Pakistani journalist Reham Khan in January 2015, but they divorced in October the same year. He married his spiritual guide Bushra Bibi on 18 February 2018.
He supported General Musharraf's 1999 Pakistani coup d'état. His political career involved perceived closeness to the military establishment, including contacts with several ISI chiefs. He became a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time in the 2002 election. He contested the 2018 Pakistani general election from five constituencies and became the first in Pakistan's electoral history to win all of them. He was elected prime minister in a PTI-led coalition government. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched Pakistan's largest welfare programme. In February 2022, he became the first Pakistani prime minister since 2002 to visit Moscow, arriving on the same day the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. During his premiership, he spoke out against Islamophobia in the western world. In April 2022, he became the first Pakistani prime minister to be removed from office through a no-confidence motion. He alleged US involvement in his removal, blaming Washington for opposing his foreign policy that sought closer relations with China and Russia.
In October 2022, the Election Commission of Pakistan barred him for one term from the National Assembly over the Toshakhana case. In November, he survived an assassination attempt. In May 2023, he was arrested at the Islamabad High Court during a hearing related to the corruption charges; following the May 9 riots, he was released on protective bail a few days later. He was arrested again in August 2023. He has since been sentenced to 14 years in the Al-Qadir Trust case and, as of December 2024, faced 186 cases across Pakistan. He has alleged that his imprisonment is politically motivated, blaming the post-2022 military establishment and the Shehbaz Sharif government, both of which deny the claim.
Early life and family
Khan was born in Lahore on 5 October 1952. He is the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife, Shaukat Khanum, and has four sisters. Paternally, he is of Pathan origin from the Niazi tribe. His maternal family is from the Burki community, having lived near Jalandhar for centuries before migrating to Pakistan after Independence in 1947.He attended Aitchison College and Cathedral School in Lahore. He arrived at Royal Grammar School Worcester in England in September 1971 and performed well in cricket there. In 1972, after being turned down by Cambridge University, he was admitted to Keble College, Oxford, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics, graduating in 1975. Paul Hayes, a cricket enthusiast, helped facilitate his entry.
Personal life
Khan had several relationships in his bachelorhood. He was known as a "playboy" who was active in London's nightlife, often visiting Tramp in St James's. One or two of his girlfriends were called "mysterious blondes" in British tabloids. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was regarded as one of the most eligible bachelors.His first girlfriend, Emma Sergeant, an artist and daughter of British investor Sir Patrick Sergeant, introduced him to socialites. The Times states Emma was the "one woman he truly loved before his first marriage." They met in 1982 and visited Pakistan. She accompanied him everywhere, including a hunting trip to Peshawar and a cricket tour to Australia. She painted his portrait during their relationship at his request. His Chelsea residence, near Sergeant's studio and Tramp, became central to his social life. After long separations, their relationship ended in 1986.
Jonathan Orders introduced him to Susie Murray-Philipson, whom he later invited to Pakistan and had dinner with in 1982. Their relationship did not progress, as Philipson felt out of place and found cultural differences irreconcilable. He also briefly dated Susannah Constantine, whom he met through Lulu Blacker; their relationship lasted about a year. Julia Verdin and Doone Murray were among other women associated with him, with their relationships receiving media attention.
Other women associated with him during this period include Zeenat Aman, Sarah Crawley, Marie Helvin, Stephanie Beacham, Caroline Kellett, Liza Campbell, Goldie Hawn, Sarah Giles, Anastasia Cooke, and Hannah Rothschild. These relationships did not last, as he required residency in Pakistan for a serious, long-term commitment.
Ana-Luisa White, daughter of British industrialist Gordon White and later known as Sita, began her relationship with him in 1986, shortly after his breakup with Emma. The relationship lasted two years, ending when he reportedly wrote that he could not love her as Emma would always be the love of his life. White became pregnant after a final encounter in 1991 and gave birth to a daughter, Tyrian Jade, in June 1992. She later claimed he was the father and kept a framed photograph of him. Tyrian became the subject of a legal dispute in 1997 when a California court ruled him her father after White filed a paternity suit. The ruling followed his failure to respond to the suit or a blood test request. He denied paternity, saying he does not live in California or England and welcomes White to Pakistan to present his side in court. He offered to take a paternity test in Pakistan and said he would accept the decision of the Pakistani courts. After White's death in 2004, Jemima, his wife and a friend of Sita, was named Tyrian's legal guardian in her will. He said Tyrian could join their family in London, leaving the decision to her due to her relationship with his and Jemima's sons.
In August 1992, he began dating Kristiane Backer, a German MTV host; he introduced her to Islam during their nearly three-year relationship.
Khan and Jemima Goldsmith confirmed their engagement on 12 May 1995. The couple said they would marry, with him stating Jemima converted to Islam "through her own convictions" after studying the religion. Both families approved of the match. A spokesperson for her father denied rumours that Jemima was pregnant. On 16 May 1995, the couple married in a brief two-minute Islamic Nikah ceremony in Paris. On 21 June, they had a civil ceremony at the Richmond register office before moving to Lahore. They had two sons, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim. On 22 June 2004, the couple divorced, ending their nine-year marriage as it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan."
On 8 January 2015, he married British-Pakistani journalist Reham Khan in a private Nikah ceremony at his Islamabad residence. On 22 October 2015, they announced plans to divorce.
In 2016, media speculated about his possible third marriage, linked to his spiritual ties with the Maneka family of Pakpattan. Reports claimed he visited Pakpattan several times in July to meet Maryam Riaz Wattoo, sister of his spiritual guide Bushra Bibi. He dismissed the claims as "absolutely baseless". Members of the Manika family also denied the rumour. He called the media "unethical" for spreading it, and PTI filed a complaint against the channels involved.
In 2017, PTI member Ayesha Gulalai alleged that he, then party chairman, sexually harassed her. Gulalai said he had sent her "inappropriate text messages", with the first sent in October 2013. He supported Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's proposal for a special committee to investigate the claims. He said he had not sent "indecent messages" to Gulalai and "challenge the committee to find if there are any". Khan opposed the proposed ethics committee after its composition emerged, calling it unfair for a government formed body, and said an independent panel should first assess the allegations. He refused to cooperate with the bipartisan committee; PTI filed a defamation suit against Gulalai, which IDS Bulletin described as filed by Khan himself. No inquiry was ultimately conducted, and Gulalai did not publicly release the alleged messages.
On 7 January 2018, the PTI central secretariat said he had proposed to Bushra, but she had not yet accepted. On 18 February 2018, PTI confirmed he had married Bushra. The mufti who conducted the marriage later testified that his nikah was performed twice. He said the first, on 1 January 2018, occurred while Bushra was still in iddat, and alleged he believed marrying on that date would help him become prime minister.
As of 2018, he owned five dogs, including Motu at his Bani Gala estate.