The PTI wrapped up its hours-long sit-in against party founder Imran Khan’s sisters being denied a meeting with him outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail late on Tuesday.
The protest, the second in as many weeks, was livestreamed by the party on social media platform X and YouTube.
The protest was wrapped up at the request of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) leader Allama Raja Nasir.
PTI leaders and workers who had come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were of the view that they also had to attend an event being held to express solidarity with martyrs in Peshawar on Wednesday.
Speaking on the live stream, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan said that there was no dialogue with authorities. She said that Nasir had, however, stated that the “focus should be on the martyrs”.
“So he said we should go to their homes … and meet their families. Tomorrow they have called the families of the martyrs in Hayatabad. So we will go there,” she said.
Aleema insisted that the family be allowed to meet Imran, saying: “Who knows, maybe Imran has been shifted. Why are they not letting us meet him?”
In a separate post on X by PTI Islamabad, Aleema said that the protest would be held to express solidarity with the families of those martyred on May 9, October 4 and November 26, all days when the former ruling party had clashed with law enforcement agencies in protests that had turned violent.
Noreen Khan, another one of Imran’s sisters, also spoke to media and said that the family would continue its efforts to meet the jailed ex-premier.
She said that it was unfortunate that court orders were not being implemented.
Earlier, Islamabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) (Investigations) Rana Tanveer had arrived at the scene to negotiate with Aleema and her sisters to disperse the protesters. However, negotiations between the police and the party supporters had failed, with the PTI adamant on continuing the sit-in.
The PTI livestream showed sloganeering from the crowd gathered outside the jail, with riot police present in the area.
Imran’s sisters Aleema, Noreen and Dr Uzma Khan were initially stopped at Factory Naka by police, upon which PTI supporters started sloganeering and staged a sit-in. At Factory Naka, Aleema had told reporters that she would stay at the sit-in site until she was allowed to meet Imran and questioned the presence of a large number of police personnel.
“At this time, it is the law of the jungle; they (authorities) should be concerned that if they do not proceed according to the constitution and law, Pakistan will face the law of the jungle.”
Aleema also condemned the treatment of her and her sisters last week, calling female police personnel “shameless”.
“These policewomen think that they will make the [Punjab Chief Minister] Maryam Nawaz happy and get promotions by doing this,” she said. “If they want to arrest us, we are not afraid.
Meanwhile, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh uploaded a video on X showing the party’s Karachi General Secretary Arslan Khalid at the protest.
“The police are doing the same thing again,” he said, referring to the use of force to disperse the protesters.
“Our brothers and sisters are safe and the PTI’s workers are here to protect them,” he added. “Our demand is the release of Imran Khan.”
Last week, the party said that police manhandled and “violently detained” Imran’s sisters from outside Adiala Jail, where they were camped out after being denied a weekly meeting with the party founder.
