'Darkest Times in Pakistan': Imran Khan’s Sister Alleges Brutality, Censorship, Isolation and Hitler-Era Repression

Lahore: Pakistan is facing its “darkest period” marked by brutal repression, media censorship, and the unlawful isolation of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, claimed his sister, Noreen Niazi, in a detailed conversation with ANI.

Drawing parallels to dictatorship and Nazi-era brutality, Niazi alleged that citizens are being abducted, assaulted, silenced, and jailed without accountability, while the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and backed by the military establishment acts with impunity.

“Pakistan is going through its darkest time. We used to read stories of oppressive rulers, now we are living one”, she said, describing cases of citizens being shot, paralysed, and tortured. “Sometimes I feel like the stories we heard about the Hitler era - the way people were dragged into basements - are repeating here”.

Imran Khan, the former prime minister and patron-in-chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases. According to Niazi, Khan has been completely inaccessible for more than four weeks, with no family members, lawyers, or party representatives allowed to meet him. The extended isolation, she said, violates the jail manual.

“No one knows what's happening inside the jail. This is the pinnacle of oppression”, she said, recalling that Khan was previously kept in isolation for nearly three weeks without electricity or access to books.

Khan’s sisters - Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan and Dr. Uzma Khan - along with PTI supporters have been staging protests outside Adiala Jail but have allegedly been met with police force. She claimed that even elderly individuals, women and children were not spared.

“For the first time in Pakistan, they don’t care whether it’s a child or an elderly person. They have been given the licence to assault anyone”, she said, calling Army Chief General Asim Munir a “dictator”. Niazi also described severe media censorship, where journalists are detained, forced into silence, or forced into exile.

“Censorship in Pakistan is so extreme that they apprehend media people. When they are let out, they’re not even allowed to speak”, she said, naming journalists whose passports, properties, and bank accounts have allegedly been blocked. She accused the Shehbaz Sharif government of rigging elections and holding power without public backing.

“They are extremely unpopular. They lost all the elections and then rigged them. The weaker they are, the more force they use,” she said, claiming that Imran Khan continues to enjoy widespread public support.

She warned that public anger was reaching a boiling point. “I think just one spark is enough. The oppression is too much, and people are angry and fed up”, she said, predicting that protests could escalate rapidly.

Niazi also expressed disappointment in the international community, accusing Western governments of ignoring human rights violations despite knowing the extent of political suppression in Pakistan.

“They know everything, yet they will not do anything”, she said, adding that Pakistanis abroad must raise their voices since those inside the country face intimidation and silence.

Despite fears for her brother’s safety, Niazi said her hope lies not in global intervention but in the Pakistani people standing up. “I worry about my brother, but I also worry about the poor and innocent people in jails. I believe there will be a spark among people soon”, she said.

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