PAKISTAN’S former Prime Minister Imran Khan is alive but subjected to “mental torture in solitary confinement”, his sister Dr Uzma Khan said on Tuesday after meeting him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement after Uzma’s meeting with the 73-year-old former cricketer-turnedpolitician that Khan has been “put in solitary confinement and he is being subjected to mental torture”.

 

Upon her return, she also confirmed that Khan’s health looks fine, the statement added. 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 is in “good health”.

 

The PTI in a statement on Thursday said that one of the sisters of Khan, Dr Uzma Khan, was permitted to meet him. Meanwhile, the Punjab government deployed the entire Rawalpindi police force along 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.

 

“An eight-kilometre stretch has been completely sealed. Schools and colleges are closed. Residents are being required to show their ID card to pass through the area,” an official of Punjab government told PTI. 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 have also warned that if anything happens to Khan, those involved and their families will not be spared by Pakistanis both here and abroad.