The Lahore police escorted Aleema Khan, sister of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, from her residence on Sunday and placed her under a 30-day detention order issued under Punjab’s Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance. The move comes exactly one week before the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has scheduled a large-scale rally in the capital on September 27, demanding the release of the former leader.
Details of the arrest and legal basis
According to a copy of the order seen by local media, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali Ijaz invoked the MPO law to justify the preventive detention. The ordinance permits authorities to hold a person when their actions are deemed a threat to public safety or order. Aleema’s lawyer, Rana Mudassar Umer, posted on X that his client was seized while leaving home with her driver, describing the operation as “illegal” and insisting that she already possesses bail for all pending cases in Lahore.
The deputy commissioner’s directive explicitly cites Aleema’s involvement in protests that followed Imran Khan’s arrest in May and her continued mobilisation of PTI supporters on social platforms. No further details about the specific charge, detention centre, or police station have been disclosed.
PTI’s response and the looming September 27 rally
PTI’s spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram reacted on X, branding the detention as “cowardice” and a deliberate attempt to aggravate an already volatile situation. He emphasised that the sister of an incarcerated former prime minister, now in her seventies, was being silenced for refusing to stay quiet about what PTI describes as her brother’s unlawful confinement, solitary detention, and denial of medical care.
The party has warned that the arrest is part of a broader strategy to cripple the upcoming protest. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, speaking the day before the arrest, indicated that the government would take every possible measure to prevent the September 27 march, a stance that PTI interprets as an implicit threat.
Imran Khan’s legal status and health concerns
Imran Khan, who served as prime minister from to, has been behind bars since August. Last year a court handed him a 17-year prison sentence on corruption charges, a verdict PTI and its supporters label politically motivated. All but one of the convictions have been suspended or overturned on appeal, yet the sentence remains in force.
Health issues have added urgency to PTI’s campaign. The former leader, now 73, suffers from a deteriorating right eye that has required prolonged specialist treatment. In April the Supreme Court ordered his transfer to the privately-run Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for continued care. However, officials later moved him to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a brief check-up before returning him to jail, denying him access to his personal physician—a step PTI claims violated the court’s directive.
His sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, have publicly expressed increasing anxiety about their father’s condition, describing him as “agitated” and suffering from “severe anxiety.” The combination of legal pressure, health worries, and now the arrest of a close family member has intensified the political drama surrounding PTI’s push for Khan’s release.
Security preparations in Islamabad
Authorities in the capital have already bolstered security ahead of the September 27 rally. Checkpoints at city entry points have been reinforced, and hospitals are on high alert for potential unrest. While officials have not commented on Aleema’s detention, the heightened state of alert underscores the fragile security environment that has followed Imran Khan’s imprisonment.
With a major protest slated for the end of the month, the political stakes are high, and the legal mechanisms used to curb PTI activism are being scrutinised by both domestic observers and international human-rights monitors.
