New Delhi: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has had a whirlwind midnight detour after three years—from jail to hospital and back to jail. Two days after the Supreme Court directed the Shehbaz Sharif government to ensure access to healthcare for the 73-year-old PTI leader, the government ensured it happened, but on its own terms.
First, the government filed a petition seeking to overturn the court’s order to shift Khan from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, where he was to be kept under medical supervision until 16 September, the date of his next hearing. The court did not grant the government’s plea. Khan was taken out of the jail in the middle of the night, but instead of being admitted to Shifa, he was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). He was declared medically fit and sent back to jail by 5 am.
One of Khan’s sisters, who met him for the first time in nine months, said at a press conference that Khan was being tortured by jail authorities, who kept him in solitary confinement and were allegedly plotting to kill him like Mohammed Morsi, the former Egyptian president who died in court after being held in jail.
This midnight drama has not deterred Pakistanis or Imran Khan’s supporters, who went through a spectrum of emotions in a matter of hours—blocking roads, showering rose petals as his convoy headed towards the hospital, staying up all night flooding social media with memes and eventually reacting angrily to his return to jail. A few “leaked” and unverified images of their “Kaptaan” even made it to X.
There were ecstatic celebrations both online and offline before the full picture emerged. Some dubbed it the “beginning of a new chapter”.
“These scenes that we are witnessing together are a result of the struggles Imran Khan, his family, his party and the people at large have experienced in the last few years! I pray for his health and his life. May this be a beginning of a new chapter of the stability of Pakistan,” journalist Moiz ur Rehman wrote on X.
Former president Arif Alvi, who had shared Khan’s medical reports on X, prompting the Supreme Court to order his transfer, also added in a similar vein:
“For three years we have watched him endure isolation that would break most men. Cut off from newspapers, from books, from his family, from the country to which he gave everything. Tonight, finally, a door has opened. Prayers. Endless prayers. For his health, for his strength, for his full and complete recovery.”
الحمدللہ
Time to rejoice.
For three years we have watched him endure isolation that would break most men. Cut off from newspapers, from books, from his family, from the country to which he gave everything. Tonight, finally, a door has opened. Prayers. Endless prayers. For his…
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) August 20, 2026
However, it was all short-lived. As soon as reports emerged that he had been shifted back to jail, Pakistanis, incredulous and angry, could only take to social media to rage against the system.
“For over six hours, millions of Pakistanis were reportedly made participants in a carefully orchestrated spectacle, celebrating a hospital transfer that never happened. If true, this regime pulled a dangerous prank on 250 million Pakistanis who only wanted basic health care for their chosen leader which will have reaching consequences,” Pakistani attorney Zameer Maan wrote on X.
“Imran Khan was never taken to Shifa hospital but to PIMS which is totally against court orders. And after examination taken back to jail. How can he be declared fit. What about the medical report based on which he was to receive proper treatment and stay in the hospital? This is totally against court orders. This regime is ruthless. Doesn’t follow court orders, doesn’t believe in human values and dignity. Tragedy for the people,” former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair added.
Others also pointed out that none of the TV channels were reporting the developments.
“Pakistan’s biggest news channel is currently airing a pre-recorded crime show from Gujrat. A throwback to my childhood, when Pakistan would be in turmoil and on PTV, a presenter in a stiffly starched dupatta, in her khalis Urdu, would be explaining the benefits of some fertilizer,” Arab News editor Mehreen Zahra Malik tweeted.
The midnight mayhem has meanwhile triggered a furious debate on social media. The country’s Field Marshal Asim Munir has consolidated his authority over Pakistan’s military under a new defence law, including the role of a “military adviser” to the PM, and Pakistanis are convinced—“everyone is afraid of Imran Khan”.
“History will remember this night: while a military dictator had his powers expanded through hijacked and fake government, Imran Khan chose to walk back into a prison cell rather than let even the word ‘deal’ be attached to his name. Some chase power. Some become bigger than it,” an X user named Khan wrote.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)