Is Imran Khan Alive? Family Alarm Grows as Adiala Jail Blocks Visits Despite Court Orders

Rumours about Imran Khan’s health and even death are fuelling anger in Pakistan, as relatives and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders say they have not been allowed to see the former prime minister in Adiala Jail for weeks, while authorities tighten security and restrict gatherings in Rawalpindi and Islamabad ahead of fresh protests on 2 December.

Imran Khan is serving a 14-year sentence in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on corruption charges that PTI says were engineered to bar the party from politics, a claim Pakistan’s military has rejected, and concern has grown after family members reported that the last direct contact with the former prime minister was more than a month ago, with no phone calls or verified updates since then.

Imran Khan family concerns and death rumours

Khan’s son Kasim has publicly questioned whether the former Pakistan prime minister is even alive, demanding proof after what Kasim describes as weeks of total silence from the jail, and on 27 November 2025 Kasim reiterated online that his father had now spent 845 days in custody and six weeks in solitary confinement in what was described as a death cell.

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

Imran Khan access dispute at Adiala Jail

Imran Khan’s former spouse Jemima Goldsmith, who is the mother of Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, amplified those concerns on X, writing: "They're not even allowed to speak to him on the phone. No one is." Khan’s sisters have repeated the same charge, saying officials have blocked almost every attempt to see the PTI founder during recent months despite court orders.

One 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." Aleema said these shifting rules had left the family fearing the worst about Khan’s condition.

Last Friday, Aleema moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) with a contempt petition accusing the Adiala Jail superintendent and other officials of ignoring judicial directions, noting that the court had restored a schedule allowing two family meetings each week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, yet "the respondents did not comply with or implement the same" despite Khan being held in Adiala since August 2023.

Imran Khan supporters, PTI protests and Section 144

Another sister, Noreen Niazi, told news agency ANI that relatives had again been prevented from visiting for about four weeks, saying, "We don't know anything. They are not telling us anything, nor are they letting anybody meet him," and Noreen added that even PTI politicians who had pre-arranged slots with the prison administration were turned back without explanation.

PTI workers have responded to the uncertainty by planning what they describe as peaceful gatherings outside both the Islamabad High Court and Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, 2 December, with PTI leader Asad Qaiser telling Dawn that opposition members from both houses of parliament intend to demonstrate first at the court and then march towards Adiala Jail in protest.

"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. PTI’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa organisation has also announced a rally starting at the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway Interchange and ending at Swabi, and another party figure told Dawn traffic between Peshawar and Islamabad might be blocked.

Imran Khan protests and Pakistan Section 144 restrictions

Authorities have reacted to the planned PTI agitation, and the wider rumours over Imran Khan’s status, by imposing Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2024, across Rawalpindi for three days from 1 to 3 December, through an order signed by Deputy Commissioner Dr. Hassan Waqar Cheema, who cited an "imminent threat within the limits of District Rawalpindi".

The notification, which says the curbs aim to protect "public safety, security, peace, and tranquillity", outlaws public gatherings, some forms of travel and several protest tools during this period.

A supporter of Imran Khan’s PTI was photographed holding a poster about the jailed former prime minister amid the swirling rumours over the leader’s health, while separate images from Reuters show Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi standing among PTI workers outside Adiala Jail, and another frame captures Aleema Khanum speaking to reporters near the prison gates.

Imran Khan meeting reports and PTI pressure

Even as ministers and senior officials have avoided commenting directly on the so-called Imran Khan death rumours, some Pakistani media reports now suggest that authorities are preparing to allow a controlled family visit, with News18 quoting unnamed sources who say that one sister, Uzma, plus one screened lawyer will be permitted to see the former prime minister under a strict gag order forbidding any discussion about social media posts.

Those reported concessions appear linked to growing pressure on the Shehbaz Sharif government, as Khan’s sisters, prominent PTI figures and even Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi have camped outside Adiala Jail for several days, demanding that basic visitation rights be honoured and that the jailed politician be produced visibly to counter speculation about disappearance or serious illness, with agencies contributing to these updates.