After staging a day-long protest outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad, the PTI said on Friday that the family of incarcerated premier Imran Khan would be provided a copy of his medical report.
PTI’s Salman Akram Raja made the remarks while speaking to the media outside the SC building, where the party, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, staged a day-long sit-in in an effort to facilitate a meeting between Imran and his personal physicians.
The development comes a day after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed that Imran underwent a medical procedure for an eye ailment last week at a hospital in Islamabad. According to the minister, the former premier was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad for a “20-minute” medical procedure on the night of January 24.
Speaking outside the SC premises on Friday evening, Raja said, “As you know, we have been outside the SC building all day.”
Afridi and Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas were also present alongside Raja.
He said PTI lawmakers were also present at the sit-in, adding that a similar sit-in was staged outside Adiala jail on Thursday night that lasted till 3am on Friday.
“There is nothing more important for us than Imran Khan sahib’s health,” he said. He added that the reports that had emerged about the ex-premier’s health were “unsatisfactory”.
He said that Imran was taken to a hospital, without the family’s knowledge. “And then lies are told. For five days, they say that no such incident has happened,” he said.
Raja said that he had held conversations with the chief justice of Pakistan, his staff and the attorney general for Pakistan all day. However, he said that whatever was “achieved” after their day-long efforts was “unsatisfactory”.
“It has been said that Imran Khan sahib’s medical reports — what happened in Pims hospital, the diagnosis in jail before that — that report will be given to Imran Khan sahib in a sealed envelope. And a copy of that report will be given to family, meaning his sisters, today,” he said.
He said that this would now show what the doctors had diagnosed Imran with and what medical procedure was carried out. “When this report comes in front of us, then the family will decide whether the medical treatment being provided is satisfactory or not,” he said.
He said that the decisions about further treatment would also be made by the family. However, he said that the “real matter” was that Imran was wrongly arrested, calling for him to be released. He said that the party would continue to protest for Imran’s visitation rights.
He said that to decide the future course of strategy, the party’s political committee would meet later in the day. He said that the political party would also speak to the Senate and National Assembly opposition leaders, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Mehmood Khan Achakzai, respectively.
“So with their consultation, the PTI’s political party will decide the future course of action. We do not accept this current situation. Reciving the medical report is necessary,” he said.
However, no future course of action as such emerged after the PTI’s political party met with the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) leadership.
In a video statement released after the meeting, Achakzai said that the opposition considered reports about Imran’s health a “diversion” from the nationwide protest announced for Feb 8.
“I can say for certain that Imran Khan’s health is not as bad as it is being portrayed. Propaganda is being carried out,” he said. He called on the TTAP parties and the PTI to not back away from their “mission”, calling on the nation to participate in the Feb 8 protest.
PTI camps outside SC
Earlier in the day, PTI workers and lawmakers had camped outside the apex court. The KP chief minister had reached the SC in the morning, after a sit-in outside Adiala jail, which had continued into the early hours of Friday.
He had left for a short period of time to offer Friday prayer at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, before returning to the SC premises. Later, Senate opposition leader Abbas also joined the sit-in.
Speaking to the media during the day, Afridi said, “The whole nation is concerned about the health of the country’s most popular leader, Imran Khan.”
He had stated that he would try to arrange a meeting between the PTI founder and his personal physicians with the help of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).
The KP chief executive said the party would announce its future course of action if its attempts to arrange a meeting with Imran did not bear fruit. He had also lamented that while the courts were issuing decisions on petitions, “we are not getting justice”.
“Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s cases have not been listed for one year. If the cases are listed today and we are provided justice, Khan sahib and Bushra Bibi, along with other leaders, will be released from prison within half an hour,” he claimed.
“We were left with no option, so we opted for the only one available,” he added.
In response to a question on concluding the protest outside Adiala jail, where the KP chief minister, along with other lawmakers and party workers, had camped, he said, “I have come here.”
PTI leaders meet AGP
Following their arrival at the SC, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and party leader and lawmaker Sardar Latif Khosa had met the registrar of the apex court and the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP).
During the meeting, Raja and Khosa had expressed the party’s concern regarding Imran’s eye ailment and requested that the medical report of the doctor who treated the former premier be provided.
Addressing the media outside, Khosa said he reminded the registrar and the attorney general of Pakistan that the CJP should promote good practices before he retired as “this (Imran’s case) is not only a human rights issue, but he (Imran) is also being deprived of his basic rights.”
“He (CJP) has taken an oath that implementation on Constitution and basic rights [of people] is his basic responsibility. He is the protector of the basic rights of Pakistanis,” he said.
Khosa claimed that the procedure of retina rupture did not last “20-minutes” as shared by the information minister, but “it is 2.5 hours”.
He said Imran’s health was PTI’s “red line” and any matter related to his health “will not be tolerated at any cost”.
“This is his legal and constitutional right,” added Khosa. “I told the registrar to share our concerns with the CJP,” he said.
Khosa also said that Imran was being deprived of his basic rights.
“He (CJP) has taken oath that implementation on Constitution and basic rights [of people] is his basic responsibility. He is the protector of basic rights of Pakistanis,” he said.
‘Secrecy is cancer to democracy’
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and party leader Babar Awan also addressed the media on Friday at KP House, saying that the “one-point agenda” for the press conference was Imran’s health.
Referring to the former prime minister’s brief stay at Islamabad’s Pims hospital, he said, “Secrecy is cancer to democracy. His (Imran Khan’s) family is worried due to his health.”
Gohar demanded that doctors from Shaukat Khanum Hospital be allowed to examine the former prime minister. “Dr Faisal and Dr Asim should be allowed to meet Khan sahib.”
The party chairman added that neither the party nor Imran’s family was informed about his health or treatment.
Awan, addressing the media, said if the report regarding Imran’s health is not made public, “it will have grave consequences” and added that the party and its supporters were anxious regarding the former premier’s health.
Additional input from Abdullah Momand
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