Pakistan arrests Imran Khan's sisters ahead of planned September 27 protest

Pakistani authorities have arrested Aleema Khan, Dr. Uzma Khan, and Noreen Niazi, the three sisters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, under 30-day preventive detention orders in Lahore. The arrests mark a major escalation in the government's crackdown on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party ahead of a planned nationwide protest on September 27, 2026. While Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warns of a permanent solution to block the march, PTI leaders declare the demonstration will proceed at all costs.

Arrests of Imran Khan's sisters

• ▪Punjab Police raided Aleema Khan's family home in Lahore on September 21, 2026, detaining Imran Khan's other two sisters, Dr. Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, their children, grandchildren, and household staff
• ▪The Lahore deputy commissioner issued 30-day preventive detention orders for Imran Khan's three sisters under Punjab's Maintenance of Public Order law.
• ▪Pakistani authorities arrested Aleema Khan, sister of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, at her Lahore residence on September 20, 2026.

Legal challenge to detentions

• ▪The court petition filed by Shahraiz Khan in the Lahore High Court alleges that Aleema Khan was intercepted during personal errands and posed no threat to public order
• ▪Shahraiz Khan, son of Aleema Khan, filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging the 30-day detention orders of the three sisters, Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi

PTI's planned protest

• ▪Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi declared on September 21, 2026, that PTI would proceed with the September 27 protest at all costs
• ▪PTI announced a nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad on September 27, 2026, to demand the release of Imran Khan.

Government crackdown and security measures

• ▪PTI leader Sheikh Waqas Akram stated that Punjab Police are raiding houses, harassing families, and arresting workers to crush the upcoming September 27 protest
• ▪Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned PTI against proceeding with the September 27 protest, stating the government would find a permanent solution to PTI's repeated protests
• ▪Islamabad authorities placed shipping containers and heavy armed security to block entrances into the capital ahead of PTI's planned September 27 protest

Imran Khan's confinement conditions

• ▪Pakistani authorities took Imran Khan to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for a brief check-up instead of Shifa International Hospital.
• ▪Imran Khan's family and PTI allege that Khan is kept in solitary confinement and has been denied family visits and medical care.

Debatable claims

• ▪Pakistan should block PTI's planned September 27 protest march
• ▪Pakistan's arrest of Imran Khan's sisters is justified