KP CM announces night sit-in as PTI leaders denied access to Imran Khan again

RAWALPINDI:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders were once again denied permission to meet the party’s founder outside Adiala Jail, prompting the former to announce that he would spend the night at the site in protest, officials said on Thursday.

Afridi and the party leadership held a meeting near the factory checkpoint after the allotted visiting hours ended. They resolved to stage a sit-in on Adiala Road throughout the night until the founder is allowed to meet his personal doctors, family members and legal advisors.

The CM also directed that all provincial assembly members be summoned to the site to reinforce the founder’s claim for access, while the police blocked the Adiala highway, preventing any access to the facility.

Speaking to the media at the checkpoint, Afridi expressed deep concern over the health of the founder, noting that he had been secretly shifted from jail to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Saturday.

“My leader was taken from jail to the hospital on Saturday night. The question is: why did his health deteriorate to the point that he had to be taken to the hospital? Why was his illness hidden? Why was his family not informed about his health? If the situation was so serious, why were we not informed? Why was he not confided in his personal doctor? Why has this been hidden from Saturday until today and what are the reasons behind this?” he questioned.

He called the concealment of the founder’s health status “medical terrorism” and said the incident represented a violation of fundamental human rights. He demanded that the party founder be allowed to meet with his family, party leaders and lawyers, stating that the meetings were necessary to prevent the situation from becoming more serious.

Afridi said the founder had already survived an attempt on his life and criticized authorities for allegedly making treatment decisions without the family’s consent. “We do not trust these people at all. The founder is detained unjustly. There has already been an attempt on his life. This has been done without informing the family,” he said, adding that the nation will not accept this mockery of his life.

Afridi urged the media to speak out about the party founder’s condition, saying he was “deeply concerned” and that “the entire nation is angry” about the situation.

Meanwhile, PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja said that as per an Islamabad High Court order, party members have the right to meet the founder.

He said the party had submitted a list of authorized persons to the prison authorities, all of whom were present at the scene. “Today we are filled with worry and anger. The basic needs of humanity have been trampled,” he said.

He criticized the administration for violating basic humanitarian norms, highlighting that the secret transfer to the hospital deprived the founder’s family and personal doctors of the right to be present during treatment.

“We have decided to hold a sit-in on Adiala Road throughout the night until the founder is allowed to meet his personal doctors, family members and lawyers,” he told reporters at the factory checkpoint.

Raja claimed that on Saturday night the founder was “secretly” taken from jail to PIMS, reiterating that not even his family was informed. He said it was the duty of the prison authorities to inform the family so that the leader’s relatives and personal doctor could be present.

He said the party would not accept what he described as taking the founder to a hospital chosen by the authorities “in the dead of night” and administering treatment without transparency. He alleged that government ministers denied the transfer to hospital for six days, but were now forced to acknowledge it.

“We have come today and we will not return without meeting the founder,” Raja said, adding: “This is the human right of the founder. We are here today and tell the nation that oppression and barbarism are taking place here.

“Early on Thursday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that Imran Khan was briefly taken to PIMS for medical treatment. According to the minister, doctors at PIMS conducted another examination of Khan’s eyes and, after obtaining his written consent, carried out a minor medical procedure that lasted about 20 minutes.

After the procedure, Khan was shifted back to Adiala Jail along with necessary medical instructions, Tarar said, adding that his vital signs remained stable throughout and his general health was satisfactory. “He’s absolutely healthy,” he said. He added that prisoners have access to medical facilities and specialized care when necessary, in accordance with prison regulations.

Tarar rejected rumors circulating on social media about Khan’s condition and said claims that the former prime minister’s health was serious were false. “Alhamdulillah, he is completely fine,” he said, reiterating that the hospital visit was solely for a minor eye-related procedure performed on medical advice.

Read more: Adiala road comes to a standstill as PTI stages sit-in over blocked visit to former PM

On Wednesday, senior leaders of the PTI and allied parties held a joint press conference, raising the alarm over what they described as the continued denial of access to the jailed former prime minister, a day after reports emerged that he was suffering from an eye infection.

“The last meeting with Imran Khan took place on December 20, after which party functionaries and his family members were not allowed to meet him,” PTI president Advocate Gohar Ali Khan said at the press conference. He added that a petition had been filed with the court seeking permission to meet Khan, but approval had not yet been granted.

Speaking to a private news channel on Thursday, Tarar said ophthalmological specialists had examined Khan at Adiala Jail and advised that he be shifted to Pims for further evaluation and treatment. Following doctors’ recommendations, Tarar said, Khan was taken to the hospital on Saturday night.

In December 2025, the Islamabad Capital Territory administration and the Rawalpindi district administration imposed Section 144 in all cities in the wake of the PTI protest announced tomorrow in front of Adiala Jail and Islamabad High Court.

A spokesperson for the ICT administration confirmed the application of Section 144, which restricts all forms of public gatherings, demonstrations and rallies. “No individual or group will be allowed to organize protests or hold public events under these restrictions,” the spokesperson said.

However, a week later, a scheduled family and legal meeting with Imran Khan at Adiala Jail ended without visits, prompting a prolonged sit-in protest outside the prison by his sisters and senior party leaders, as authorities locked down the area under extensive security.

Reacting to the situation, Prime Minister’s Advisor Rana Sanaullah said the government may consider shifting the PTI founder to another prison if protests outside Adiala Jail continue to disrupt public life and become a regular occurrence.

Due to the incessant sit-ins by the founder’s sisters, a terrorism trial was registered against them, along with senior party officials and 400 other people.

The FIR, lodged at Saddar Bairuni police station in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, invokes sections 7 and 21 (I) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 and the Pakistan Penal Code. Police said protesters had staged a sit-in on Kachehri Road near the prison despite restrictions on public gatherings imposed under Section 144.

According to the FIR, the case named Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, along with PTI leaders Qasim Khan, Salman Akram Raja and Aliya Hamza. Other nominees were Naeem Panjotha, Tabish Farooq, Tayyaba Raja, Nadia Khattak, Haroon, Raja Asad Abbas, Zafar Gondal and Shafqat Abbas.

However, the three sisters again staged a sit-in protest that led to parts of Adiala Road being blocked after they were denied permission to meet the former chief minister at Adiala Jail a week later. The weekly protest followed the prison authorities’ refusal to allow meetings between the PTI founder and his sisters, as well as party leaders and other family members.