Inside Rawalpindi, where Imran Khan supporters are planning a mega protest amid health rumours

Tension is rife in Pakistan as incarcerated Imran Khan remains inaccessible to party leaders and his family members from jail. Rumours of the former Pakistan prime minister’s ill-health continue to spread like wildfire, prompting his supporters and family members to organise large-scale protests in Rawalpindi, where the Adiala Jail is located, and Islamabad, the country’s capital, today (December 2).

And amid this news of planned protests by Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), some reports state that the Adiala Prison authorities have granted permission to Imran Khan’s sister, Uzma, to meet him in an attempt to quell the speculation and anger over his ‘disappearance’.

So, what’s going on in Pakistan? What’s the latest in the Imran Khan death rumours saga?

PTI protests planned for Rawalpindi and Islamabad

As speculation over Imran Khan’s death continues to circulate, supporters of the PTI announced their decision of holding peaceful protests outside the Islamabad high court and Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Tuesday (December 2).

PTI leader Asad Qaiser was quoted as telling Dawn that opposition lawmakers from both houses of parliament will protest outside the Islamabad high court before taking their demonstration to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. “It has been decided to hold protests because IHC has failed to implement its order and the Adiala jail administration is not willing to implement the court orders,” he said.

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Moreover, the PTI’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa unit, as per a Dawn report, has also announced that it will assemble at the Pesha¬war-Islamabad Motorway Interchange for a rally that will culminate at the Swabi interchange. Another PTI leader told Dawn that they might suspend the traffic between Islamabad and Peshawar by blocking the motorway.

The move comes amid Khan’s so-called disappearance from the prison where he is serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges, one of the numerous cases he claims were fabricated to keep him out of politics — a charge the military denies.

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According to the former Pakistan PM’s family, the last time they saw Khan was over a month ago, with his one of his sons, Kasim, even demanding for proof of life. Kasim has even alleged that authorities are concealing “something irreversible” about Khan’s condition.

My father has been under arrest for 845 days. For the past six weeks, he has been kept in solitary confinement in a death cell with zero transparency. His sisters have been denied every visit, even with clear court orders allowing access. There have been no phone calls, no… pic.twitter.com/VZm26zM4OF

— Kasim Khan (@Kasim_Khan_1999) November 27, 2025

Moreover, Imran Khan’s ex-wife and mother of Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, Jemima Goldsmith, even claimed on X: “They’re not even allowed to speak to him on the phone. No one is.”

Khan’s sisters have also claimed the same, saying authorities are barring them from meeting him for the past few months. One of Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, told NDTV, “For the last six to seven months, they have caused a lot of trouble; sometimes they let me meet him, sometimes they let one of my sisters meet him, sometimes they don’t let anyone meet him. Many times, we wait outside for hours.”

She even filed a contempt of court petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) last Friday, alleging that the Adiala Jail superintendent and others were not allowing her to meet the former Pakistan prime minister.

In her petition, she stated that the court had reinstated the twice-a-week meeting schedule for Khan, who has been languishing in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since August 2023. It added that despite directions for allowing visits on Tuesdays and Thursdays, “the respondents did not comply with or implement the same”.

Another sister, Noreen Niazi, speaking to Indian news agency ANI, said relatives have again been refused visits for the past four weeks. “We don’t know anything. They are not telling us anything, nor are they letting anybody meet him,” she said, adding that even PTI leaders with scheduled appointments had been turned away.

Pakistan imposes ban on gatherings

Fearful of the scale of the PTI protests, the Pakistan government has imposed Section 144 — a ban on gatherings. An order signed by Rawalpindi’s Deputy Commissioner, Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema, states that Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2024, will be in place for three days — from December 1 to 3.

And as per the law, the following activities will be banned:

• All kinds of assemblies, gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, processions, demonstrations, jalsas, dharnas, protests, and similar gatherings of five or more people.
• Carrying of weapons, spikes, ball bearings, petrol bombs or any other instrument that can be used for violence has been banned.
• Objectionable or hate speeches have also been banned.
• Pillion riding on two-wheelers has also been restricted by the government.
• The use of loudspeakers in Rawalpindi has been banned as well.

The order states that there exists an “imminent threat within the limits of District Rawalpindi” and the restrictions are being imposed to ensure “public safety, security, peace, and tranquillity”.

Imran Khan’s sister likely to meet him

Amid this fraught situation, there are reports emerging that the Pakistan government, which has remained more or less mum on Imran’s ‘death rumours’, will give into the demands of PTI supporters and family.

Citing sources, News18 has reported that jail authorities are allowing one of Imran’s sisters, Uzma, and one vetted lawyer to meet the former PM under a strict gag order that bars any discussion related to social media.

This comes as his sisters, PTI members and eve Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Sohail Afridi have been camping outside the Adiala jail for the last few days pressurising the Shehbaz Sharif government to allow his family members to meet him.

With inputs from agencies