A day after revelations emerged about the vision loss of PTI founder Imran Khan, the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP) staged a sit-in at the Parliament House on Friday and vowed to continue until their demands were fulfilled.
The sit-in started after Friday prayers and was ongoing till midnight.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court (SC) was informed that PTI founder Imran Khan’s right eye had only 15 per cent vision remaining, prompting a strong response from the party. Subsequently, the TTAP announced the sit-in outside the Parliament House on Friday (today).
The protesters were still present at the Parliament House late at night on Friday, having shifted from outside to the main hallway of the premises.
In a video shared by the opposition alliance on X, TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai said they planned to spend the night at the Parliament House.
On a lighter note, he added, “In the morning, we will sit [here] again after changing clothes and shaving. And if the [protest] is prolonged, the entire Ramazan will be spent staging sit-ins.”
Earlier, the opposition alliance vowed that the sit-in would “continue until Imran is admitted to Al-Shifa Hospital“.
“No compromise will be made on Imran Khan’s health,” the TTAP said.
Ahead of the sit-in, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said that PTI lawmakers reached the parliament “after overcoming all the obstacles in their way”.
Qaiser said that he, along with Achakzai, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Shahram Khan Tarakai, and Shandana Gulzar, reached the assembly. He added that the “group discussed the present situation and deliberated on the future course of action”.
He later shared a video of the sit-in outside Parliament House, saying that they were demanding the provision of medical facilities for Imran in the presence of his family and personal physician.
“Providing the best medical facilities is Imran Khan’s legal and constitutional right. No compromise will be made on Imran Khan’s health. If our demands are not met, we will announce our next course of action,” he said.
TTAP leader, Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, had earlier claimed that the government “has cordoned off all roads leading to Parliament” ahead of the sit-in.
Khokhar had also claimed that “gates of parliamentary lodges have been shut, trapping MNAs and Senators inside.”
He stressed that the measures were being taken to “stop opposition MPs from protesting and demanding medical access to Imran Khan.”
“This doesn’t reflect strength, rather weakness,” he added.
Protest outside KP House
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was also in Islamabad, but his Focal Person on Digital Media Yar Muhammad Khan Niazi alleged in a post on X in the evening that “Islamabad police forcibly stopped” the CM and other members of the provincial assembly from reaching the Parliament House.
Consequently, they staged a sit-in outside the KP House in the federal capital, he said.
It was also alleged in the post that police personnel “pushed and roughed up” the protesters.
The PTI also alleged in a post on X that Special Assistant to the KP CM on Information Shafi Jan “had his collar grabbed by a police officer.”
Jan later appeared on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, where he said a large contingent of police and prison vans reached the KP House as they were leaving for Parliament.
He said he and others with him were stopped by police at a barrier near the KP House. The law enforcement personnel later “grabbed my collar and … threw me into a prison van, due to which [I suffered a minor] head injury”, Jan alleged.
He said this behaviour of the “federal police and government was unfortunate”.
The sit-in at the KP House was also under way after midnight.
PTI asks SC to issue written orders; seeks probe into ‘use of force’ against parliamentarians
Meanwhile, the PTI alleged in a statement that its parliamentarians had been “forcibly barred” from participating in the protest at Parliament and subjected to torture.
“There have been reports of misbehaviour towards women and them being roughed up,” the party alleged.
The party also decried the delay in the fulfilment of its demand that the Supreme Court (SC) issue written orders regarding Imran’s examination.
“We demand that … Imran Khan be provided access to his personal and specialist physician without any delay, that he should be allowed to meet his family immediately and that he be immediately shifted to the hospital for the treatment of his eye,” the PTI said in its statement on X.
The party further demanded an investigation into the “use of force against parliamentarians” and legal action against those responsible.
Earlier, PTI, in a post on X, addressed the CJP, demanding “formal written directions” for the PTI founder’s health examination.
“CJP, we require formal written directions to ensure that Imran Khan is examined by specialists and treated under the supervision of his own doctors at Shifa International Hospital,” the party said.
It called on the CJP to “issue and release the written orders,” stressing that Imran needed “urgent eye treatment.”
“This is not politics, this is not about power. This is about Imran Khan’s life,” PTI added.
Imran’s sister Aleema Khan, in a post on X, also said that the family had not yet received a written order from the SC regarding the PTI founder’s eye inspection.
“It is 3:40pm on Friday, February 13, nearly 30 hours after the jail visit report was presented before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Yet, no orders have been issued for Imran Khan to be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad for examination and treatment by specialist doctors under the supervision of his personal medical team,” Aleema said.
In an earlier post, she said that despite the court’s deadline of February 16, the “directive cannot be implemented without a written order from the court.”
“Given the urgency and the risk to his eyesight, why has the CJP delayed issuing the written orders?” she added.
Imran will be taken wherever he prefers for medical treatment: Tariq Fazal Chaudhry
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry spoke to the media ahead of the sit-in outside Parliament. He was asked about the blockade during the media talk, at which he maintained that the opposition had a right to protest. He went on to claim that the “blockade was not from the government’s side.”
He held that the government has “repeatedly” assured the opposition that “no negligence will be tolerated regarding Imran’s health”.
“There is no need to deal with it politically; it is a medical issue,” he added.
Chaudhry, during his media talk, gave assurance that the PTI founder would be taken “wherever he prefers” for medical treatment amid claims regarding the incarcerated leader’s vision, stating that there would be “no negligence in the matter”.
Addressing the media outside Parliament, Chaudhry said: “Wherever he (Imran) wants to go for a check-up, he will be taken. If he wants to go to Al-Shifa Eye Trust, then he will be taken there. There will be no negligence in the matter.”
“If the CJP recommends a doctor, he will be taken there,” Chaudhry added.
He called on the opposition to refrain from politicising the issue. “This is a sensitive issue; politicising it and misrepresenting facts is completely unfair.”
He added that the incarcerated leader would “now be examined by eye doctors or super-specialists, and we will try to ensure he receives every possible treatment available”.
Addressing the claims of Imran’s deteriorating vision, the minister dismissed the reports and stated, “The issue did not surface when Imran’s sister met him on Dec 2 or on Dec 9 when he was examined by a medical board or on Dec 20 when the Toshakhana verdict was announced.”
“The complaint was not brought up anywhere before,” the minister said.
He further recalled that, “On January 16, it was recommended by a doctor that Imran be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for an eye checkup. It is also on record that he was not shifted at the request of PTI, but the jail authorities and the government”.
He said that following Imran’s procedure on Jan 24, a medical report was issued by the doctors, “and then there is a ‘report’ by the lawyer” — referring to PTI counsel Advocate Salman Safdar’s report submitted to the SC.
He added that a new medical report will be issued soon.
The minister said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Yahya Afridi, was “himself looking after the case”.
Awaam Pakistan to join TTAP’s sit-in
Separately, the leadership of Awaam Pakistan — Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Miftah Ismail — announced that it will participate in TTAP’s sit-in outside Parliament House.
“The peaceful protest is being staged in response to the alleged deprivation of vision in Imran Khan’s one eye, and the government’s refusal to allow access to his personal doctors and family.”
The TTAP further said the decision was made last night in a meeting also attended by Awaam Pakistan’s leadership.
“Denying any prisoner timely and appropriate medical care is immoral, inhumane and illegal,” the opposition alliance said, adding that Imran Khan was Pakistan’s former prime minister and the leader of the “country’s largest political party”.
“The Awaam Pakistan party will join TTAP’s sit-in outside Parliament immediately after Friday prayers today.”
“We firmly believe in the rule of law, the people’s constitutional rights, free and fair elections, and true democracy, and we will always stand with the people in their struggle for these principles,” the post said.
Dr Zafar Mirza, central spokesperson of Awaam Pakistan party, in a social media post on X, said, “Imran Khan’s eyesight is at risk without urgent medical treatment! Awaam Pakistan is part of the peaceful protest of Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan and will stay until he receives the medical care he legally deserves.”
Later, Ismail shared on X that Mirza had “rushed to Lahore to attend the Namaz-i-Janaza of our party’s founder and Punjab Convenor Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri sahib. But, he will attend the dharna tomorrow morning”.
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