- Aleema says jail authorities barred family from meeting Imran.
- Adds family members denied meeting for 3 consecutive weeks.
- “Will sit outside jail if not allowed to meet PTI founder.”
RAWALPINDI: Family members of incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan were barred from visiting him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday, sparking intense criticism from his sister Aleema Khan.
Imran sisters — Aleema and Uzma Khan — and Qasim Khan Niazi were stopped from entering the jail premises.
In a statement, Aleema said she did not understand why the authorities were nervous. “It’s just family here, no one else.”
She alleged the authorities had communicated that the family would not be allowed to meet the incarcerated PTI founder. “They said we’re not allowed to go inside. Why not?” she questioned.
Aleema revealed that the family members had been denied a meeting for three consecutive weeks. “Today, again, police have been deployed here to stop us from meeting him.”
“In such circumstances, if we don’t feel upset, then what else are we supposed to feel?” she asked.
She further stated that if they were not allowed to meet the PTI founder, they would continue to sit outside the jail. “We are very distressed. It’s been three weeks and we still haven’t been able to meet him,” she added.
Last month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reinstated twice-weekly meetings with PTI founder, allowing them to take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
However, the court strictly prohibited any media talk after these meetings. It ruled that no individual meeting the PTI founding chairman will be allowed to speak to the media afterwards.
Furthermore, only those individuals whose names are provided by the PTI founder’s coordinator, Salman Akram Raja, will be permitted to meet him.
Earlier, Aleema expressed concerns over restricted access to her brother.
Reacting to the PTI leaders’ meeting with the former premier, she lamented the selective enforcement of meeting restrictions, saying that jail authorities had categorically told them family meetings were not allowed during gazetted holidays.
“Yesterday, April 1, was a gazetted holiday, and we were not permitted to meet our brother. The last time we saw him was on March 20. On March 27, we were also denied access,” she said in a post on X.
Aleema further asked why others were granted access while family members were restricted — referring to Imran’s meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif.
“Are the gazetted holiday restrictions only for family? We have not been allowed to meet Imran, and he is also barred from speaking to his sons.”