PTI announces closure of Swabi motorway for protest

ISLAMABAD: Opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will close the Swabi Motorway on December 1, 2025, as part of a one-day protest calling for the release of the party’s founder, Imran Khan.

PTI leader Ahmed Khan Niazi said the party will lead a major rally from the Peshawar Motorway on December 1. The rally, headed by Niazi, will travel to Swabi, where the central protest gathering is scheduled to take place.

According to Niazi, the protest aims not only to shut down the motorway but also to pressure authorities to grant a court-ordered meeting with Imran Khan and secure his immediate release. PTI maintains that the cases against its founder are politically motivated.

Niazi said that the demonstration will be peaceful and backed by public support. He said party workers have been strictly instructed not to take the law into their own hands during the protest.

IMRAN KHAN DEATH RUMOURS PUT TO REST

Earlier this week, Adiala jail authorities said that the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan is alive and remains at Rawalpindi’s jail, firmly shutting down viral claims on social media that the country’s most polarising political figure had either been moved in secret or had died in custody.

The rebuttal came after a wave of online posts, including from a number of India-linked websites and social media accounts, suggested without evidence that Khan’s health had worsened and that authorities were hiding his death. The rumours gained unusual traction, prompting families of PTI supporters and other citizens to demand clarity across messaging groups and discussion forums.

However, PTI spokesperson Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari said the denial did little to answer the core complaint from the family that they were not being allowed to meet Imran Khan. He alleged that the former premier had been kept alone for six weeks and that court orders for visitation were being ignored.

Now the party has announced a protest for the same cause, to pressurise the authorities to allow Imran Khan to meet with his family and party members.