PTI Alleges Water Cannon Use To Disperse Protest Outside Adiala Jail

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders on Wednesday alleged that authorities dispersed protestors using water cannons outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Party members and relatives of former Prime Minister Imran Khan staged the sit-in.

Late on Tuesday night, the protest began after Imran Khan’s sisters were once again denied permission to meet him. He remains incarcerated at the high-security Adiala Jail.

The PTI Punjab chapter shared videos on the social media platform X early Wednesday showing authorities spraying water cannons at protestors. The footage captured demonstrators standing near the jail premises.

The party said that authorities carried out a water-cannon attack on unarmed and peaceful children, women and citizens amid severe cold conditions.

Separately, Pakistan’s opposition alliance, Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), also circulated the same footage online and accused the Punjab Police of using excessive force against innocent civilians.

Taking to X, the party posted, “Outside Adiala Jail, the Punjab Police’s reckless use of water cannons against innocent and unarmed people. In the line of fire from the water cannons, Imran Khan’s sisters and senior leaders of Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz Aain Pakistan, senior leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and hundreds of workers were affected by the chemical-mixed water. We will neither be intimidated by the government’s dirty tricks nor will we be scared.”

Arrests and Detentions

TTAP claimed that police arrested Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema, Noreen and Uzma, along with TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai, PTI MNA Shahid Khattak, PTI lawyer Khalid Yousuf and several others.

A video accompanying the claim showed Aleema Khan raising her fist as police escorted her into a van.

PTI said in an early Wednesday statement that police took Aleema Khan towards Chakri before releasing her later, while the party did not confirm the status of the other two sisters.

The Islamabad High Court had earlier directed, in an order dated March 24, that authorities must allow Imran Khan to meet visitors twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

However, PTI alleged that authorities failed to comply with the court’s instructions, which led the party to stage repeated sit-ins near the prison, many of which police reportedly dispersed using water cannons.

Previously, Amnesty International criticised Pakistani authorities for the repeated use of high-pressure water cannons against peaceful protestors outside Adiala Jail.

“These actions raise serious concerns around the safety of peaceful protesters and non-compliance with the court order by the authorities. Recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture also condemned Khan’s prolonged solitary confinement of 23 hours a day in poor conditions as unlawful and amounting to psychological torture under international standards,” it stated.

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