Pakistan detains Imran Khan's two sisters before PTI Islamabad march

Pakistan police detained two more sisters of Imran Khan and his nephews before PTI's September 27 march. The move sharpens tensions over the protest and fuels PTI's charge of political victimisation.

In Short

• Aleema Khan was detained earlier and shifted to Kot Lakhpat jail
• Police also took Khan's nephews into custody during Monday's operation
• Authorities cited May 9 protest cases and alleged incitement allegations

Pakistan police on Monday arrested two more sisters of former prime minister Imran Khan for 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, ahead of a planned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf long march seeking his release from jail. A day earlier, another of Khan’s sisters, Aleema Khan, had been detained under the same law and shifted to Kot Lakhpat jail.

On Monday, police detained Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, along with Khan’s nephews, and moved them to Kot Lakhpat jail, where Aleema had already been transferred, an official said. The detentions come before PTI’s nationwide protest, including a planned long march on Islamabad on September 27.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned PTI against holding street protests. “We have clearly told them (PTI) that they can never achieve anything through such drama, and I will say again that there is still time; they should not go into this situation,” he said, while advising the party to “not enter a dead-end street”. He also said PTI would not be allowed to “come to Islamabad and shut down the city for ten days” and added, “That possibility does not exist.”

Lahore police said action was taken against Khan’s sisters because they were “prejudicial to the public safety and maintenance of public order”. The law allows police to arrest someone seen as threatening peace in any part of the country. The arrest order said the two were involved in the May 9, 2023 protest and “motivated the workers to damage public and government property”.

“Moreover, they are again mobilising the workers through social media and public meetings to create a law and order situation, raising/chanting objectionable slogans amongst the general public against the government/institution in order to provoke and incite them,” the order read. “Accordingly, multiple cases including 96/23 PS Race Course were registered,” it said, adding that Uzma and Noreen were “potential dangers to public peace and tranquillity”. “Such activists will give rise to a situation prejudicial to public safety and maintenance of public order, if left unchecked.”

PTI lawyer Awais Chaudhry confirmed to Dawn that all three of Imran Khan’s sisters had been arrested. “Earlier, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan were confined to their house, but on Monday morning they were taken to an unknown place,” he claimed. PTI, in a post on X, condemned the arrests as a “blatant abuse of authority, a violation of fundamental rights, and an act of political victimisation”. The party said, “Such conduct is illegal, unconstitutional, and is condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

Khan, 73, has been in jail since 2023 and is currently lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. His sisters have been raising concerns about his health in prison while demanding his release, and their detentions have come just days before PTI’s planned protest march to Islamabad.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends