Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja claimed that the party’s jailed founder, Imran Khan, underwent eye surgery at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), accusing the government of concealing details of his medical condition for several days.
Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court, Raja said government circles continued to “mislead the public” about the PTI founder’s health for five days, adding that he was not being provided basic human rights despite being in custody.
His remarks came a day after Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar confirmed that the PTI founder was briefly taken to the Pims, where eye specialists had examined him.
A large number of PTI leaders, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, and party lawmakers gathered outside the Supreme Court after they were once again denied permission to meet the incarcerated founder.
The PTI secretary general said that Imran’s family was not informed about the reason for taking him to the hospital. He said that the government acknowledged the situation only on Thursday, after which PTI representatives went to Adiala Jail.
Raja said that nearly 200 parliamentarians were present outside the Supreme Court to protest what he described as the denial of fundamental rights to the PTI founder.
He said he and senior lawyer Latif Khosa attempted to meet Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, but the meeting could not take place as the chief justice was not present in his chambers.
On the instructions of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Raja said they later met the Supreme Court registrar, who is also a sessions judge and is fully aware of the situation. He added that the Attorney General has also been informed of the matter.
“We have decided to sit here,” Raja said, warning that if the PTI founder is denied fundamental rights, “no one’s rights will remain protected.”
Speaking on the occasion, CM Afridi said the PTI founder’s family was not even informed that he had been examined “twice” in jail for illness.
“The matter reached the point of surgery and transfer to Pims on Adiala Jail, yet the family was kept completely in the dark,” he said.
CM Afridi said that Imran — whom he described as the country’s most popular leader — was taken to the hospital under the cover of darkness, accusing federal ministers of lying about his condition for five days.
Afridi also questioned the quality of treatment given to the PTI founder at Pims, claiming that the hospital does not have a retina specialist.
