PTI Claims Water Cannons Used to Disperse Sit-in Outside Adiala Jail

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday accused authorities of using water cannons in freezing temperatures to disperse a sit-in outside Adiala jail, where party workers — including Imran Khan’s sisters — had gathered after being denied a meeting with the incarcerated former prime minister.

In posts on X shortly before 4am, the party said that despite a court order allowing family meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Imran’s sisters were repeatedly blocked, prompting the protest. Videos shared by the party showed people fleeing as a water cannon was operated amid heavy police deployment.

“This brutal crackdown on a peaceful sit-in violates basic human rights and freedom of assembly,” the PTI said, calling on international human rights organisations to take notice. The party alleged that the authorities were “deliberately obstructing” access to Imran Khan and termed the use of water cannons “an outright assault” on constitutional rights.

The sit-in, led by Imran’s sisters Aleema, Uzma and Noreen, began on Tuesday evening after another attempt to meet the PTI founder was denied. Senior leaders, including PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and KP provincial president Junaid Akbar Khan, also joined the protest.

Police contacted Imran’s sisters twice to persuade them to leave, and later deployed a heavy contingent around the jail. The protest remained peaceful, though tensions rose when riot police stopped the group at a barricade near Gorakhpur Market, around one kilometre from the prison.

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Sitting at the barricade, Aleema accused authorities of isolating and “torturing” Imran Khan by refusing family and medical access. She noted that he had not been allowed to meet his personal physician for 14 months. “We will not move from here; they can beat us with sticks or shoot us,” she said in a video statement.

PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, speaking to media near the site, urged authorities to allow meetings, arguing that such access would “improve the situation.” He said that family and legal counsel had a right to meet the former prime minister under a consent order.

The standoff follows a week of heightened tensions after a visit by Imran’s sister Uzma led to statements on his X account criticising the army chief. The military’s spokesperson later issued a sharp rebuke, prompting the federal government to ban further visits over alleged violations of the prison code.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar warned last week that strict action would be taken against anyone creating a law-and-order situation outside the jail, including arrests and legal cases.