Imran ‘perfectly fine’, but being mentally tortured: Sister after meeting in jail

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s health is “perfectly fine” but he is being subjected to “mental torture in solitary confinement”, his sister Dr Uzma Khan said on Tuesday after meeting him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

The development comes amid rumours on social media about Khan’s health as his family was constantly being denied from meeting him in prison for more than a month.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Uzma said, “Imran Khan’s health is perfectly fine. However, he was very angry and said they were subjecting him to mental torture.” She claimed Imran remained confined to his room most of the day with limited time outside and no communication with anyone. Uzma said the meeting lasted around 30 minutes.

She was accompanied by a group of PTI supporters who gathered outside the jail while she went inside to see the former PM, Dawn reported.

The visit took place as Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged demonstrations outside the Islamabad High Court and Adiala Jail against restrictions on visitation rights. The party claimed that family members and senior leaders had been unable to meet the former PM for weeks.

According to Dawn, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Sohail Afridi said no one had been permitted to meet Imran or his wife, Bushra Bibi, since October 27.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was imposed in Islamabad and Rawalpindi ahead of the protests, banning gatherings of four or more people for a limited time.

An unannounced ban was placed on meeting Khan, who has been in prison since August 2023 in multiple cases, for more than a month. Constantly denying his family members from meeting the PTI founder led to speculations on social media whether he is alive or dead. Adiala Jail authorities, however, claimed that he was in “good health”.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government deployed the entire Rawalpindi police force along the Adiala Road to thwart the PTI protest. The government has already imposed Section 144 (ban on gathering of four or more people) in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The station house officers of eight police stations in Rawalpindi along with senior officers are present outside Adiala Jail.

A group of lawyers also held a demonstration outside the Islamabad High Court against the government for keeping Imran Khan in isolation. Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said compliance with Section 144 would be ensured in Islamabad and Rawalpindi at any cost. “Whether they come to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) or the Adiala jail, action under Section 144 would be carried out without any discrimination,” the minister said. Earlier, Imran Khan’s son Kasim Khan demanded the government present proof that he (Khan) is alive. "We demand proof of (Imran Khan)'s life,” Khan’s son Kasim Khanhad said in a post on X. Khan's party has warned the authorities of countrywide protests if the government does not allow his sisters to see him. His sisters also warned that if anything happened to Khan, those involved and their families would not be spared by Pakistanis both here and abroad.