Rumours claiming former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan ‘s death in custody have triggered panic in Islamabad this week. An India Today article states that the rumours, which set the Pashtun belt on edge, highlight the precarious grip of the Asim Munir-led military command over the national narrative.
The chaos originated from a social media handle identified as “Afghanistan Times,” which alleged that the 72-year-old leader had been murdered inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail over two weeks ago. Khan’s family and legal team being denied access to him for over three weeks led to credible fears that the state was concealing his physical condition.
An old photo of Imran Khan in the hospital has also gone viral, but these have been dismissed as fake.
Reports also suggest that there has been a brutal crackdown on Khan’s family. His sisters—Aleema, Uzma, and Noreen—were allegedly assaulted by Punjab Police while protesting outside the jail. Noreen Niazi stated that authorities “abruptly switched off streetlights” to mask the operation before she was “seized by her hair and dragged across the road,” sustaining visible injuries.
In response to death rumours of Imran Khan, the Adiala Jail administration issued a formal statement on Thursday, asserting that he is “completely healthy” and dismissed the rumours as “baseless propaganda.”
Later, Khan’s sister Aleema Khan and his PTI supporters also called off their sit-in at the Gorakhpur checkpost near Adiala Jail following successful negotiations with the police. According to an NDTV report quoting ARY news, police assured the family that meetings with the former Prime Minister would be arranged soon, too.
Adding a layer of political counter-narrative, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also mocked Imran Khan ‘s death rumours, claiming the jailed leader is receiving “five-star treatment,” including access to a double bed, a velvet mattress, and exercise equipment.
The India Today analysis report suggests that the army views Imran Khan and his party’s popularity as a threat to its grip. It states, “Imran Khan, now jailed for over 840 days since August 2023 on graft charges, embodies, for many, a kind of Pathan defiance. Releasing him risks mass unrest, especially in KP, the only province where the PTI still holds power despite fears for their lives and ongoing crackdowns.”
