ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Wednesday sharply criticised the Punjab government for what it called “a reign of terror” unleashed on Imran Khan’s sisters, party leaders, lawyers and workers outside Adiala Jail, calling the actions intolerable and unacceptable.
The party announced that the opposition alliance would observe a nationwide “black day” on Friday to demand the restoration of the Constitution, rule of law and “real freedom,” echoing Imran Khan’s repeated assertion that the nation now faces a choice between “freedom and death.”
At a press conference flanked by Imran’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi — as well as MWM Chairman Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and other leaders, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja condemned Tuesday night’s events and issued a strong warning to those in authority.
Raja said the PTI continued to call on those in power to shed their “reckless arrogance” and act responsibly before matters deteriorate further. He stressed that Imran Khan’s sisters have an unequivocal constitutional right to meet their brother — a right no state authority can deny.
He warned that no society can endure or advance without freedom of expression, free media, freedom of conscience and an independent judiciary.
“We are confronting a power structure intoxicated with its own authority, blind to morality and law,” he said, vowing to expose what he termed “tyranny,” adding that divine justice may be delayed but is inescapable.
Aleema Khan, speaking at the event, condemned what she described as assault on her sister and other PTI workers by police personnel. She alleged that a female officer ordered male policemen to beat peaceful protesters.
“Yesterday, our people — including MNAs and MPAs — were subjected to violence,” she said.
Aleema further claimed that Imran Khan has been placed in solitary confinement while party supporters were merely exercising their court-approved right to demand justice. She recounted that police allegedly pushed 71-year-old Noreen to the ground, dragged her, pulled women’s dupattas, slapped them, and beat young girls, before detaining them in vans alongside male detainees.
“Women officers, armed with batons, behaved like Gullu Buttnis. One even shouted, ‘Beat them!’ directing others to attack,” she added.
“Do you think beating us will silence us? We will return — you cannot intimidate us,” she said defiantly, questioning whether the country was now being run by “gangsters.”
Aleema vowed that the family would continue to stand outside Adiala Jail for Imran Khan, determined to expose oppression and injustice. She recalled that on August 4, 2023, a day before his arrest, Imran was urged to leave Pakistan.
“But he said clearly: ‘I will not abandon my country,’” she noted, highlighting that the PTI founder has endured over 500 days of trial without making personal demands.
