Jemima Khan
| Jemima Goldsmith link Powerbase Sourcewatch Twitter (Journalist) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith 30 January 1974 Westminster, London |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom and Pakistan |
| Alma mater | University of Bristol, SOAS |
| Religion | Islam |
| Parents | Sir James Goldsmith, Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart |
| Children | 2 |
| Spouse | Imran Khan |
Jemima Khan (née Goldsmith) is the British UNICEF goodwill Ambassador, ex-wife of Pakistani cricketer turned politician, Imran Khan, and a supporter of the self-professed counter-extremist think tank, the Quilliam Foundation.
Appeal to the new Burnham government
On 24 August 2026, Jemima Goldsmith posted on X:
Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband: how much longer will Britain remain silent?
For three years the father of my two sons, and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been brutally penalised by his political opponents, in a personal vendetta by Army Chief, Asim Munir, which according to the UN, amounts to torture and which is now taking a potentially fatal toll on his physical and mental health.
He has endured 3 years of solitary confinement. For nearly ten months now his family has been denied contact with him. He has been deprived of the most basic human contact, denied access to books, lawyers and doctors.
The international human rights standards are unequivocal. Under the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement lasting more than 15 consecutive days is prohibited and amounts to torture.
He has endured this treatment not for 15 days, but for three years.
Pakistan’s own Supreme Court has now intervened: ordering comprehensive medical treatment, access to his personal doctor, regular family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons.
Yet those orders are being defied.
This is no longer simply a Pakistani political matter. It is a human rights emergency.
He has deep and lifelong ties to Britain. He studied at Oxford University, captained Oxford University cricket and spent years playing county cricket in England. His relationship with this country stretches back more than half a century. His charitable activities were internationally recognised, and include building the only free cancer hospital in Pakistan as well as a university.
His sons, my two boys, Sulaiman and Kasim, are British citizens. They have been forced to watch their father’s health decline from thousands of miles away, prevented from visiting him, denied visas, publicly threatened by government officials with arrest themselves, and even denied court-mandated regular phone calls.
I have repeatedly appealed to the UK government to intervene. Purported attempts at back channelling have evidently failed. The previous Foreign Secretary David Lammy informed me in writing that Britain would not intervene if my sons, British citizens, are arrested when they travel to Pakistan to visit their father.
@FCDOGovUK: Britain must now speak out publicly and unequivocally. Demand that Pakistan comply with its own Supreme Court; restore Imran Khan’s medical access, his right to see his family, end his prolonged isolation and uphold his fundamental human rights.
Pakistan is a Commonwealth country. Britain has a long and proud tradition of standing against arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment and the denial of fundamental rights. Those principles mean very little if we invoke them only selectively and neglect them when inconvenient.
This an appeal to the new Burnham government to please now do the right thing.[1]
Activities
In April 2008, she was invited by Ed Husain to attend the launch of the Quilliam Foundation. Jemima Khan gave a short speech about the importance of the Quilliam Foundation and wished them success.[2]
In 2011, sponsored by the Reprieve organisation, she spoke out against US drone strikes in Pakistan.[3]
Zac Goldsmith
On 7 May 2016, following Zac Goldsmith's heavy defeat in the 2016 London mayoral election by Sadiq Khan, Jemima tweeted that her brother was an "eco-friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity" and his campaign, which has been widely criticised for using "dog-whistle racism", did not reflect this.[4][5]
References
- ↑ "This an appeal to the new Burnham government to please now do the right thing"
- ↑ Jemima Khan Speech at Quilliam Foundation Launch on 22 April 2008, Youtube, accessed 23/02/10
- ↑ "Jemima Khan talks about her latest visit to Pakistan with Reprieve"
- ↑ "Zac Goldsmith's sister Jemima publicly criticises his London mayoral campaign"
- ↑ "Tweet supporting defeated brother Zac Goldsmith"