Islamabad: Munir allows Imran’s sister Uzma Khanum to meet jailed ex-PM
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As expected, the military-political-bureaucratic ‘establishment’ in Islamabad, led by “Field Marshal” Syed Asim Munir, on Tuesday sought to puncture the claims of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists, that their top leader Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi may have been harmed or killed, by allowing one of his sisters to meet the ex-Prime Minister in the prison, the media reported.
Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala Jail’s officials allowed Imran Khan’s sister, Uzma Khanum, to meet him, breaking weeks of restricted access that had prompted protests by PTI supporters and family members.
However, no details of the brother-sister meeting were immediately known.
According to media outlet Dawn, Uzma entered the prison in the afternoon as several PTI workers gathered outside the jail premises demanding transparency about Imran’s medical condition and well-being in a jail he was sent to in August 2023 on dozens of charges. He has been facing over a hundred court cases ever since he was ousted from power in April 2023.
The meeting came on a day when PTI had already planned massive demonstrations outside the Islamabad High Court and Adiala Jail to protest what it called unjustified curbs on Imran Khan’s visitation rights. Earlier, officials allowed him to meet family members, doctors, and lawyers on regular basis. However, they disallowed anu meeting three weeks ago, triggering PTI’s strong protest.
The Khan family and party members had been denied meetings despite an earlier Islamabad High Court order permitting twice-weekly visits.
Earlier, Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan had filed a contempt petition against the Adiala Jail superintendent and senior officials for allegedly defying the court’s directions. She claimed that authorities had repeatedly blocked visits by family, lawyers and PTI leaders since March.
Jail officials, however, maintained that Imran’s condition in Adiala Jail was “good.”
The confrontation escalated after pro-Khan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi was barred from meeting Imran for the eighth consecutive time, prompting him to lead a sit-in outside the prison.
Concerns had intensified last week after Imran’s three sisters were allegedly assaulted by Punjab police while staging a peaceful demonstration outside Adiala Jail. One of them, Noreen Niazi, said, “We peacefully protested over concerns for his health condition. We neither blocked roads nor obstructed public movement, nor engaged in any unlawful conduct. Yet, without warning or provocation, the streetlights in the area were abruptly switched off, deliberately casting the scene into darkness. What followed was a brutal and orchestrated assault by Punjab police personnel.”
“At the age of 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown violently to the ground, and dragged across the road, sustaining visible injuries.”
She accused police of slapping and dragging other women, calling it “part of a broader and troubling pattern of indiscriminate force used against peacefully protesting citizens over three years.”
Rumours around Imran’s well-being surged after unverified Afghan media reports claimed he had died in custody. His UK-based son, Kasim Khan, demanded proof of his father’s safety, saying on X that Imran has now spent 845 days in prison and the last six weeks in a death cell without any family contact.
Imran Khan has been jailed since August 2023 in multiple cases, and authorities have enforced strict access restrictions for more than a month. PTI alleged these restrictions are being imposed under the influence of the army, which authorities have denied.
The party said the permission granted to Uzma Khanum is only the first step and has demanded regular, unhindered access as ordered by the court.
