Three sisters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan have been detained by authorities in Lahore in the space of two days.

Aleema Khan, Imran’s sister who has been among the most visible members of his family during his imprisonment, was detained on September 20 under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. The following day, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi were also detained under Section 3 of the same law. All three were ordered to be held for 30 days and shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.

The detentions come days before PTI’s planned nationwide protest and long march towards Islamabad on September 27. The party says the protest is intended to demand Imran Khan’s release and the ‘supremacy of the Constitution’.

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On what grounds were Imran Khan’s sisters detained?

The Lahore administration has invoked Section 3 of the Punjab MPO Ordinance, 1960, which permits preventive detention on public-order grounds.

In its orders concerning Uzma and Noreen, the Lahore deputy commissioner said the two women were “prejudicial to the public safety and maintenance of public order”. The order alleged that they had been involved in the May 9 protests by PTI and had “motivated” workers to damage public and government property.

It further alleged that they were again mobilising workers through social media and public meetings, raising slogans against the government and institutions and attempting to provoke or incite people. The order described them as potential dangers to public peace and said their presence in public could lead to a breach of public order.

There is also a separate legal case involving Aleema and Uzma. In July, an anti-terrorism court declared the two women proclaimed offenders after they repeatedly failed to appear before it in a case relating to an October 4, 2024 protest. The court issued perpetual arrest warrants for them.

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The latest detentions, however, have been ordered under the MPO rather than as a consequence of that ATC ruling. Aleema’s September 20 detention order similarly placed her in preventive detention for 30 days.

The timing is significant because PTI has announced a nationwide protest, including a march on Islamabad, for September 27. The government has taken a strong line against the march.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on September 21 that the government would “not leave any loopholes” in its response. He referred to a September 14 Islamabad High Court order which said political parties and their leaders have no lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas or buildings in Islamabad. Naqvi said the government would ensure implementation of that order.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also said that no “violent group” would be allowed to enter Islamabad, while alleging that previous PTI demonstrations had involved damage to state property.

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PTI, meanwhile, has maintained that its planned march will be peaceful and political.

The sisters’ detention orders have been challenged in the Lahore High Court.

What do Imran Khan’s sisters do?

Imran Khan has four sisters — Rubina Khanum, Aleema Khanum, Uzma Khanum and Noreen Niazi.

Imran’s father, Ikramullah Khan Niazi, was a civil engineer, while his mother, Shaukat Khanum, was a homemaker. Her death of cancer in 1985 led Imran to found the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Pakistan’s first specialised cancer care centre. The years-long fundraising for and building of this hospital — which finally opened in 1994 — saw close involvement of the Khan siblings. The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust’s website lists Aleema and Uzma on the Board of Governors.

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Aleema Khanum is the founder of a Lahore-based textile firm, CotCom Sourcing (Pvt.) Ltd. She holds an MBA from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, one of Pakistan’s premier colleges. She has also been the subject of financial and property investigations in Pakistan. The News reported in 2019 that flats in New Jersey that she had not declared.

Since the 73-year-old Imran’s imprisonment, Aleema has regularly spoken to the media about her brother’s struggles and health.

Uzma Khan is a Lahore-based surgeon, and has also spoken up for her brother since he went to jail in 2023.

Noreen Niazi’s son, Hassan Niazi, is also in the PTI. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military court over his involvement in the May 9, 2023 violence, during PTI protests against Imran’s arrest.

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Rubina, who has not been detained, is an alumna of the London School of Economics and has worked with the United Nations.

Back in 1995, when Jemima Goldsmith was married to Imran Khan, she was quoted by magazines as saying about his sisters that “seeing they were educated, strong women, with lives of their own”, helped her realise that life was not all that bleak for Pakistani women.