Pakistan's opposition alliance continued its sit-in in Islamabad for the fifth day on Tuesday, demanding better health facilities for jailed former premier Imran Khan, as his family claimed that he is enduring "unimaginable mistreatment" in prison.
The sit-in is led by the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan (TTAP), an alliance set up last year to protest the constitution of the country.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is its main force, while the alliance is led by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a Pashtun tribal leader from Balochistan who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
The group launched the protest on Friday at two places in Islamabad, including near the parliament building and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, the official building of the provincial government in the capital.
The sit-ins were prompted by the concerns regarding the health of Khan, who recently told a visiting lawyer that he lost about 85 % of vision in the right eye due to alleged lack of health services, a charge rejected by the government.
The protestors have vowed to continue the sit-ins until Khan is shifted for specialist care to a private hospital.
The PTI has cut off Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from the rest of the country by road blockades, demanding that Khan be immediately shifted to the hospital and allowing his doctors to see him.
Khan has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
"Imran Khan, a global celebrity, a philanthropist, and former prime minister of Pakistan, has endured unimaginable mistreatment in prison under the directives of 'Asim Law,' now facing irreversible damage to his right eye as a direct consequence," Khan's sister Noreen Niazi said in a post on X, referring to Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir.
She said it has been established that Khan's medical complaints were ignored "unduly and unjustly" for three months while he was kept in "illegal solitary confinement".
"The jail's poor conditions have severely impacted his health, leading to devastating effects on his eye, now diagnosed as retinal vein occlusion. This isn't mere negligence. It's deliberate cruelty, executed through an evil and conniving master plan of Gen Asim Munir.
"Under the vengeful instructions of Asim Munir, Imran Khan's due treatment is being handled inside the poor conditions of the jail," she said.
Noreen added that given the nature of Khan's eye condition, where he's already lost 85% of his vision, proper treatment "simply isn't possible in a prison setting".
"Our sole constitutional and legal demand is that Imran Khan be immediately transferred to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for treatment under the supervision of his personal physicians," she demanded.
Noreen further criticised Field Marshal Munir for portraying himself as the Islamic world's leader.
"You (Munir) declare yourself the chief of a Muslim armed forces, quoting Quranic verses in your speech, but you refuse to abide by them. The nation is wide awake, and the whole world is watching this brutality and inhumane and despicable treatment of Imran Khan.
"This ushers in concerns about Imran Khan's legal rights; it rather underscores the gravity of lawlessness now prevalent in Pakistan under illegitimate and un-Islamic rule. It represents a profound trial of your beliefs, your command, and your impending judgment," Noreen said.
The government, however, rejected concerns about Khan's health. It appointed a two-member team of doctors, who, after examining the former premier concluded that his vision in the right eye without glasses was recorded at 6/24 partial, while the left eye measured 6/9.
However, with corrective glasses, the right eye improved to 6/9 partial and the left eye to 6/6.
They also reported a reduction in the swelling in the right eye, with its thickness decreasing from 550 to 350 microns, and the report termed it a sign of improvement.
The doctors also recommended eye drops for both eyes, while advising the PTI founder to undergo two other eye tests.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the media that the government has no intention to “politicise” the matter of Khan's health, while blaming the opposition for doing the same.
“The medical report also came forward yesterday, and everything is clear as per it. Neither we nor the government want to politicise this,” he said.
He also criticised the furore by the PTI over Khan's health.
“Putting up such a show is extremely inappropriate, especially misleading people,” the minister said.
Naqvi added that doctors who carried out health checks also briefed Khan's personal physician and they were satisfied.
Meanwhile, Khan's close aide Zulfi Bokhari said the former premier told his wife Bushra Bibi on Tuesday that he remains deeply concerned about his eye.
"His first and only priority is an immediate emergency meeting with his personal physicians -Dr Faisal Sultan and Dr Asim. Let's put politics aside for a moment and only focus on this one, extremely reasonable demand," Bokhari said.
Meanwhile, Indian cricket greats Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev joined a dozen other former international captains in signing a petition demanding better prison treatment for “one of the finest all-rounders” of the game, Imran Khan.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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