By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Authorities arrested two sisters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday as they and dozens of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party supporters tried to demonstrate outside Adiala jail, where he has been held for nearly two years under tight restrictions on visits from family and lawyers.
The detentions came despite a court-mandated schedule that is supposed to allow family meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They unfolded amid a government-imposed ban on public gatherings, steady rain that turned roads slick and muddy, and a heavy police presence that blocked roads leading to the prison complex on the outskirts of Rawalpindi.
The party had called the gathering a “peaceful protest” against the limits on access to Khan, its founder. It also announced plans for a larger demonstration in Rawalpindi on Thursday, April 9 — the anniversary of the 2022 no-confidence vote that removed Khan from power. Law enforcement agencies stopped PTI leaders and workers at multiple points before they could reach the jail gates. At DHA Chowk, near the prison, officers arrested Khan’s sisters, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan, along with several workers, according to Seemabia Tahir, a member of the PTI’s core committee. She said authorities had already cleared a nearby hotel and shut its doors after detaining those inside.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said protesters were met with tear-gas shells and baton charges. He reported that party leaders who had gathered at a motorway rest stop in Kallar Kahar were blocked when authorities closed both entry and exit points. At least five members of the Punjab Assembly, including opposition leader Moeen Qureshi, were among those taken into custody there, he said. Additional arrests occurred at the Chakri rest stop farther along the motorway.
Shahyan Bashir, a PTI leader who traveled from Lahore, described police firing tear-gas shells that injured several workers. Others slipped and fell on the rain-soaked, muddy roads. “It is unfortunate that a meeting was not allowed even on the directions of the Supreme Court,” he said.
By late afternoon, some senior PTI figures managed to reach the jail perimeter. Amir Mughal, president of the party’s Islamabad chapter, arrived with Malik Amir Awan, Raja Sohail Satti, Raja Sajjad and several women leaders including Sabeen Younus, Khursheed Jahan, Ayesha Iram, Memna Kamal, Meher Nigar and Saba Afzal. Speaking afterward, Mughal said the group would keep pressing for Khan’s release.
Noreen Niazi, one of the arrested sisters, told reporters earlier in the day that law enforcement officials had damaged vehicles and attacked workers. In an official statement, the PTI described the arrests as “unlawful” and “without any justification,” calling them part of a pattern of political victimization. “The government has not only initiated a series of illegal arrests but has also restricted meetings between our leader, Imran Khan, and his family members, legal counsel, and key party officials,” the party said. “This step constitutes a blatant violation of fundamental human rights, judicial transparency, and democratic values.”
The statement demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained, full access for Khan to meet his family and lawyers, and an end to what it called political pressure. “Illegal arrests, restrictions on meetings, or political pressure will not deter us from our mission,” it added. “We also appeal to the public to raise their voice against this unjust conduct and to defend the right to peaceful protest.”
The crackdown was enabled by Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which the Rawalpindi district administration imposed on Monday for 15 days, through April 20. The order banned gatherings of five or more people across the district, as well as sit-ins and protests. It also prohibited the display of arms (except by law enforcement), “objectionable or hate speeches,” pillion-riding on motorcycles, and the use of loudspeakers.
For months, PTI supporters have staged sit-ins outside or near the Adiala prison complex on the court-designated visiting days for Khan. The former prime minister, who remains incarcerated on multiple charges, has repeatedly complained — along with his party — that the restrictions on family visits and legal consultations amount to inhumane treatment.
Party leaders said they were checking hospitals and police stations Tuesday evening to locate the injured and arrested, many of whom they planned to help secure release before returning to other cities.
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