By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Opposition lawmakers extended a sit-in protest into a second day on Saturday, demanding jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan be shifted to a specialist hospital amid concerns over his deteriorating eyesight, as the government pledged further medical checks by eye experts.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said further treatment for Khan, founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, would be conducted at a specialised medical facility. “Pursuant to ongoing eye treatment of Imran Khan, further checkup and treatment will be done in a specialised medical facility by the best eye specialists,” Tarar said in a post on X. “A detailed report thereof will also be submitted to the Supreme Court. Conjecture, speculations and efforts to turn this into political rhetoric and mileage for vested interests may please be avoided.”
The government’s assurance came as parliamentarians from PTI and the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) maintained their demonstration at Parliament House and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) House in Islamabad, calling for Khan to be moved immediately to Shifa International Hospital. The sit-in, which began after Friday prayers and continued overnight, followed a Supreme Court hearing on Thursday where it was disclosed that Khan’s right eye retained only 15% vision.
Protesters, led by TTAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Senator Ali Zafar, Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar and others, accused authorities of turning Parliament House into a “prison”. “We have been inside Parliament since yesterday. We wanted to go outside but all the gates were closed,” Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said in a video posted by TTAP on X. “Parliament and its premises have been turned into a prison; it is condemnable…We are not armed. We are standing here with nothing but our ethics and the strength of the truth.” He noted that Khan, like other prisoners, had rights and that “90 percent” of Pakistanis, both at home and abroad, were voicing concerns over his health.
PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja said in a post on X that Parliament House, Parliament Lodges and KP House “had been turned into a jail”. Demanding they “be set free”, Raja alleged the state was “terrified” of them taking to the streets. PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in an earlier X post that the sit-in had entered its second day, with opposition leaders “trapped” inside Parliament House. “We also remained inside Parliament House the entire night,” he said, adding that PTI and TTAP leadership was “exhausted from hunger”. “The police did not allow dinner at night and now breakfast in the morning to be taken inside,” Akram claimed.
TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai said the sit-in continued at both locations and “will continue until TTAP’s demand is accepted”. PTI leader Shandana Gulzar, speaking to media, said it was unfortunate that Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi had given four days for Khan to be examined by doctors. She questioned whether the same timeframe would apply if it involved the chief justice’s daughter or former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. “The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister is staging a sit-in at KP House and protesting against the government’s unjust behaviour. We are demanding that Imran Khan be shifted to Shifa International Hospital,” Gulzar said. She alleged the government was waiting for further damage to Khan’s eye and that police had manhandled parliamentarians and opposition leaders.
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) spokesperson Aslam Ghauri, in a statement, condemned “violence” against the TTAP protest outside Parliament. “Respected members of Parliament and provincial assemblies were dragged,” he said, adding that those who had “trapped the protesters inside Parliament call themselves democratic”. “Making a mockery of democracy, playing around with the Constitution and going against Islam are the actions of this government,” Ghauri alleged, saying the “fake forced government had gone mad in the fire of revenge”. He demanded immediate release of all detained leaders and blamed the government’s attitude for anarchy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Do the rulers want to spread this anarchy across the country?” Ghauri asked.
At a press conference at the National Press Club, TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, flanked by former Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Awaam Pakistan spokesperson Dr Zafar Mirza, warned the government against escalating the situation. They said the government should not eliminate political space for the opposition, urged dialogue and respect for democratic principles. They demanded Khan be transferred immediately to a hospital for treatment and his family granted access, stating the protest would continue until demands were met. Khokhar said he was prevented from taking food inside Parliament on Saturday morning and called the situation unjust. He added opposition leaders inside Parliament House were confined and roads to Parliament Lodges and KP House blocked.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi urged protesters elsewhere to remain peaceful. “Imran Khan sahib’s health is more important to me than politics. I will neither engage in politics myself over his health nor allow anyone else to do so,” he said on X. “At this time, those workers who have stepped up on their own without any official call — wherever you are, stay peaceful, and nearby workers, support them. All of you must remain peaceful going forward as well. Those opposing Imran Khan sahib, who have subjected him to medical terrorism, are capable of going to any extremes. They will include their own provocative elements amongst us to divert our peaceful protest in another direction and target us,” Afridi said. “Do not believe any negative or false propaganda unless it is verified by Imran Khan sahib’s family and party. A mockery has been made out of his health, which is unforgivable. Right now, his best possible treatment is our top priority.”
Earlier, Khan’s sister Aleema Khanum criticised the Supreme Court for alleged inaction. In an X post, she said lawyers waited all day Thursday and Friday for written court orders. “The order should have been for Imran Khan to be shifted to Shifa International Hospital. Emergency orders for his immediate examination and treatment by specialist doctors under supervision of his personal doctors,” she said. Citing information to lawyers, she claimed Chief Justice Afridi left for an urgent tour to Punjab to watch a jeep rally in Cholistan.”The urgent and pressing matter for our CJP (taking precedence over the extreme urgency to save Imran Khan’s eyesight in his right eye), we are told, is to watch the jeep rally in Cholistan. Ofcourse this could be totally fabricated information!” Aleema said.
She added the chief justice would return February 16, the deadline for Khan’s specialist examination. “Without a court order for the Govt, Imran Khan is certainly not going to receive any emergency medical care. The court order has to wait until the CJP returns to office on Monday from the Cholistan jeep rally!” she said. “Since CJP didn’t give a court order for Imran Khan’s treatment, people will have to support us to ensure there is enough pressure on the [government], so they will allow him to be treated at Shifa International Hospital.”
Authorities sealed Islamabad’s Red Zone on Friday with police deployments and barriers. The protests follow allegations of negligence in treating Khan’s eye ailment during his over two-year incarceration, a flashpoint between PTI and the government. PTI counsel Salman Safdar, appointed amicus curiae by the Supreme Court, met Khan at Adiala jail and submitted a seven-page report on his conditions, revealing 15% vision in his right eye. The court ordered specialist eye access and examination by February 16, plus telephone conversations with sons Kasim and Sulaiman Khan.
Last month, Khan underwent a procedure at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), linked to cardiovascular risks like high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. Pims Executive Director Dr Rana Imran Sikandar confirmed senior doctors assessed Khan before discharge. He said the procedure, for the right eye condition, was performed in sterile theatre under monitoring and completed in 20 minutes.
Reports said Barrister Gohar was contacted by government figures, assured a doctor panel for Khan’s eyes. The government assured if deliberate withholding of treatment proven, it would be criminal negligence. Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah told Senate on Friday Khan first complained in early January, receiving eye drops from jail doctor. He said examinations occurred January 16 and 19, injection January 24. Rejecting four-month complaint claim, Sanaullah said Khan saw jail doctor every second day, checked on concerns, and external doctors 25 times. He said no eye complaint raised December 9.
In a video from Parliament House, Salman Akram Raja said authorities agreed to shift Khan to Shifa. “We were also told that one family member of the PTI founder will be allowed to meet him,” he said. Raja said treatment was Khan’s right, not to be delayed, and a call arranged with sons. Aleema confirmed Khan spoke to sons for about 20 minutes. Khan, jailed since August 2023, faces cases from corruption to terrorism after April 2022 ouster via no-confidence motion.
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