PTI chief says party ‘begging’ to meet jailed ex-PM Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said Tuesday that his party is “begging” authorities to allow a meeting with jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, after family members and senior leaders were again stopped outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

Imran Khan, who was removed from office in 2022, is currently imprisoned in connection with multiple legal cases. His party has repeatedly complained of restrictions on access to him.

Speaking to reporters at a checkpoint near the high-security prison, Gohar said PTI delegations arrive every Tuesday, wait for the allotted time and then leave without being allowed to meet Khan.

He accused those in power, including some within their own circles, of deliberately blocking access. “The system has become paralyzed for us. We are asking under court orders and SOPs, yet every week we are turned away,” Gohar said.

He urged authorities to “have mercy” and allow at least Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, to meet him.

Gohar linked the repeated denial of meetings to what he described as an unrelenting legal onslaught against the opposition party.

He said Imran Khan had faced convictions in earlier years and was convicted again in 2025, while Bushra Bibi was also convicted.

Sisters of Imran Khan stage sit-in outside Adiala Jail. PTI/X

In addition, Gohar said 16 PTI members of parliament were either convicted or disqualified during the year. “For us, 2025 has been a year of disqualifications,” he said, warning that political tensions could deepen if political actors do not step back.

Gohar said dialogue has no alternative but argued that talks are not progressing at the pace demanded by the political situation.

He said PTI has not called off negotiations and that the mandate to engage in talks rests with veteran politician Mahmood Khan Achakzai and cleric-politician Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.

At the same time, Gohar confirmed that instructions had been issued for a renewed street movement.

He said protests are PTI’s constitutional right and added that responsibility for organizing the movement had been assigned to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. “We do not want talks under pressure, but in politics preconditions are not set for dialogue,” he said.

Tensions outside the jail escalated when Imran Khan’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan and Dr Uzma Khan — staged a sit-in on a nearby road after being denied entry to the prison.

Speaking to the media, Aleema Khan accused authorities of sealing surrounding areas to prevent PTI supporters from gathering.

She said the sisters would not leave and that they had come on Imran Khan’s instructions, accusing officials of acting out of fear.

Bushra's daughter seeks visit

Meanwhile, the daughter of Bushra Bibi has formally asked Punjab authorities for permission to visit her mother in Adiala Jail, saying she has been denied access multiple times without reason.

In a letter dated December 30 to the Punjab Home Department, Mubashra Khawar Maneeka described repeated failed attempts to meet her mother, who is serving sentences alongside Khan in corruption cases. She said the refusals have caused her deep emotional pain and stopped her from seeing or speaking to her mother for a long time.

Maneeka, represented by lawyer Intizar Hussain Panjutha, argued that as Bushra Bibi's real daughter, she has a basic right under Pakistan's constitution and prison rules to family visits. She promised to follow all jail security rules.