MARDAN: Aleema Khan, the sister of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, on Saturday urged party leaders and workers to stay united in order to make efforts for the release of their incarcerated leader.
Addressing PTI workers here, she asked party workers to stop blaming one another and forge unity in their ranks. She added that opponents and hostile forces wanted the PTI workers to remain divided.
She said that the complaints of MNAs and MPAs that people were not taking to the streets would only end when the party’s organisational structure was strengthened. Aleema Khan visited Mardan to mobilise PTI activists in order to launch a campaign to secure the release of Imran Khan.
She emphasised that staging a successful long march depended on unity among workers, stating that organisational cohesion was essential for the success of both long march and broader movement.
She urged party workers to stay in close contact with their elected representatives, reassure them that the public stands with them and eliminate any misunderstandings. Aleema Khan said that she was in the field as a sister for her brother, while party workers were coming out in support of their leader.
According to her, Imran Khan wanted people to raise their voice not for any individual, but for their fundamental rights and against what he viewed as an unjust and oppressive system in the country.
Aleema Khan said that the tragic events of November 26 must not be repeated under any circumstances. She stated that there should be no more sacrifices of children and no more opportunities for innocent people to be fired upon.
She added that future protests would not be directed toward D-Chowk but instead toward Adiala Jail, where Imran Khan was imprisoned. She said that he had now spent three years in jail and had been held in solitary confinement for the past nine months.
She claimed that state agencies and political opponents had been trying to create the impression that the public had forgotten Imran Khan and that the PTI had collapsed because of internal rift.
Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2026
