- Jailed leaders demand govt must stop politicising Imran’s health.
- Call for Imran’s treatment in consultation with his sisters, doctors.
- Ask party to consistently highlight country’s worsening situation.
Five senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat, on Friday called for the postponement of all protest activities during Ramadan and urged the party to shift its immediate focus towards parliamentary politics.
In a joint letter issued to the media from Kot Lakhpat Jail, the party leaders — Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Umar Sarfraz Cheema and Mian Mahmood Rashid — said that, in view of the sanctity of the holy month, every form of protest movement should be deferred.
Khan’s health has emerged as the latest point of contention between the government and the opposition, comprising PTI and the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aiyeen Pakistan (TTAP), after a report filed by his lawyer and SC’s amicus curiae Barrister Salman Safdar, revealed that the PTI founder was diagnosed with a serious eye condition known as central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).
CRVO is generally associated with older age and underlying cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. The report stated that Imran Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, had complained of losing about 85% of the vision in his right eye.
Following the revelation, the opposition alliance TTAP staged a sit-in in Parliament House while PTI workers blocked major roads and highways in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The jailed leaders, in today’s letter, also demanded that the government immediately stop politicising Khan’s health and ensure that his treatment is carried out in consultation with his sisters and personal doctors.
The incarcerated leaders strongly condemned recent remarks by President Asif Ali Zardari against PTI founder Imran Khan, terming the statement inappropriate for the office of the head of state. “Khan was enduring imprisonment with dignity despite extremely difficult circumstances,” they added.
The PTI leadership was urged to further organise and intensify legal proceedings in courts for his medical treatment, while ensuring regular meetings of party office-bearers, lawyers and family members with the former prime minister.
The jailed leaders appealed to TTAP to play a proactive role in parliament and use parliamentary instruments to expose what they described as the government’s worst performance.
They further proposed that the core committee and political committee nominated by Khan should hold detailed deliberations on the deteriorating political situation and take decisions through consensus.
In case consensus is not possible, decisions should be made by a clear majority, formally documented in writing and made binding on all party office-bearers.
The party policy, they said, should be communicated to the media and the public only through the chairman, secretary general and information secretary so that all leaders speak in line with an agreed narrative.
Calling for a complete organisational revival, the letter urged PTI office-bearers at every level to reorganise and reactivate the party structure and take the organisation down to the grassroots across the country in preparation for local government elections.
The leaders also stressed the need to reorganise and activate all party wings, saying a disciplined and dynamic organisation was essential for any effective political struggle.
The imprisoned leaders also called on the party to consistently highlight the country’s worsening security situation, rising terrorism, fragile economy, deadly inflation, poverty, unemployment, the growing number of out-of-school children, unchecked population growth and what they termed continued disregard for corruption at all levels.
