Outside the high walls of Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, the air was thick with tension and resolve on December 9, 2025. The sisters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan—Aleema, Uzma, and Noreen—stood at the heart of a swelling crowd, denied yet again the chance to see their brother. What began as a straightforward family visit quickly escalated into a high-profile political standoff, drawing national attention and laying bare the deep fissures running through Pakistan’s political landscape.
According to Dawn and iNews, the confrontation unfolded after the sisters arrived at the jail following official visiting hours. Police, citing procedural rules, blocked their entry at the Factory checkpoint, a spot now etched into the ongoing saga of Khan’s incarceration. But the sisters, joined by prominent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders—including National Assembly members Junaid Akbar and Shahid Khattak, KP cabinet members Meena Khan and Shafee Jan, and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja—refused to turn away. Instead, they staged a sit-in, transforming a routine denial into a symbol of resistance.
The authorities’ response was swift and forceful. By the early hours of December 10, as reported by Dawn, police deployed water cannons to disperse the peaceful demonstrators—among them, Khan’s sisters and a host of PTI workers. The party condemned the crackdown as a “shameless violation of Imran Khan’s prisoner rights” and “an outright assault on the constitutional rights of people who gathered to protest the regime’s atrocities.” Videos soon circulated online, showing people bundled against the freezing night, drenched and scattering in the wake of the water jets.
Amid the chaos, Aleema Khan’s voice rang out, steady and reassuring: “Kids, don’t panic … it’s just water, don’t panic because of water.” Her composure in the face of adversity became a rallying point for supporters, many of whom had camped out in the cold, determined to make their voices heard.
The roots of this standoff stretch back months. Imran Khan, once a cricket legend and later the country’s prime minister, has been held at Adiala Jail since August 2023, facing a slew of legal cases following his removal from office. The government’s repeated denials of family and legal visits—despite court orders permitting them—have only fueled suspicions among Khan’s supporters that the authorities are determined to isolate him, both physically and politically.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan was unequivocal in his criticism. As reported by Dawn and iNews, he cited multiple court orders supporting the family’s right to meet Khan and accused the government of turning politics into enmity. “We have a right to come here, and there is a court order allowing us to be here,” he stated. “We had an agreement and a consent order that family and legal counsel could meet him (Imran), but even today, we have been stopped.” Gohar also urged authorities to allow meetings, arguing it would “improve the situation” and help bridge the widening gap between the state and the people.
The government, for its part, has defended its actions by claiming that such meetings are exploited for political messaging. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar asserted that “there is no room in the [prison] rules for political discussions and it was reported that political discussions occurred, so meetings are now banned for Uzma Khan. This won’t happen.” The authorities’ stance hardened further after Uzma’s last permitted meeting, during which she relayed Khan’s criticism of the army leadership—a message that promptly triggered a fiery response from the military’s spokesperson, who branded Khan “mentally ill” and a “narcissist.”
The military’s involvement has only heightened the sense of crisis. As iNews noted, the sharp rhetoric and heavy police deployment around Adiala Jail are emblematic of the broader struggle between Khan’s populist movement and the country’s powerful establishment. Each side accuses the other of acting in bad faith, leaving ordinary Pakistanis caught in the crossfire. Senior PTI leaders, including Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and KP Provincial President Junaid Akbar Khan, have repeatedly emphasized the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and the necessity of dialogue over confrontation.
Aleema Khan, in a series of video statements, accused the state of breaking the law and highlighted what she described as double standards in the treatment of political prisoners. “Imran has not been allowed to meet his personal physician for the past 14 months. What is the issue in allowing one doctor to meet Imran Khan? When Nawaz Sharif went to jail, a doctor was with him all day, counting his platelets. What sort of system is this?” she asked. Her frustration mirrored that of many PTI supporters, who see the ongoing restrictions as part of a broader campaign to silence dissent.
The PTI’s sit-in was not without its internal critics. Some party leaders, like Shahid Khattak, stressed the need for peaceful protest and called for a policy to address grievances in the tribal areas, while others, like Akbar, warned that the distance between people and state institutions was growing dangerously wide. “People have started hating you, so you should think wisely,” Akbar cautioned, hinting at the potential for even deeper divisions if current trends continue.
The government’s determination to maintain order outside Adiala Jail was evident in the heavy police presence and the explicit warnings issued by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. “The gloves are off,” he declared, vowing that anyone creating a law and order situation would face strict action, including arrests and legal cases. Yet, for many observers, the use of water cannons against peaceful protesters—especially in freezing temperatures—seemed only to underscore the growing intolerance for dissent.
Despite the crackdown, the core issue remains unresolved. PTI leaders insist that the right to meet with Imran Khan is both a legal entitlement and a matter of basic human decency. The government, meanwhile, remains wary of the political implications of such meetings, especially after previous encounters led to public statements critical of the military and the administration.
For now, the standoff at Adiala Jail stands as a microcosm of Pakistan’s broader political turmoil: a contest between law and power, rights and authority, dialogue and confrontation. As winter deepens and the political climate grows ever more charged, both sides seem unwilling to back down—leaving the country’s future as uncertain as ever.
