PNN: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Friday said that PTI founder Imran Khan 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”.
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.
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”.
Safdar submitted a report in the SC on Thursday after meeting the former prime minister in Adiala jail earlier this week.
The report quoted the PTI founder as telling him that “he has been left with only 15pc vision in his right eye”.
In a hearing of the case on Thursday, the two-member bench led by SC CJP Afridi ordered the formation of a medical team to examine the former premier’s eye, and directed that Imran be allowed to speak to his children. It was ordered that both the eye inspection and the phone calls be conducted before February 16 (Monday).
PTI leaders reach parliament ahead of sit-in for Imran’s health
Meanwhile, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said that PTI lawmakers reached the parliament “after overcoming all the obstacles in their way” for a sit-in — announced in the wake of claims regarding Imran’s vision a day earlier.
Earlier, Tehreek Tahafuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan leader, Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, had claimed that the government “has cordoned off all roads leading to the parliament” ahead of the sit-in.
Qaiser said that he, along with the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Mehmood Khan 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.”
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.
Chaudhry, when asked about the blockade during his media talk, maintained that the opposition has 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.
Earlier in the day, TTAP chief Achakzai vowed to continue a sit-in outside the parliament announced in the wake of claims regarding Imran’s vision a day earlier “until all demands are met”.
He made the demand in a video message posted on TTAP’s X account.
On Thursday, the opposition Leader in the Senate, Allama Raja Abbas Nasir, announced the sit-in after the claim regarding Imran’s vision surfaced.
PTI asks SC to issue written orders
Separately, 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 1pm on Friday the 13th, and we still have not received the written order from the Supreme Court of Pakistan. 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,” Aleema said.
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.