By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government has insisted that Imran Khan’s 70-year-old sister is “fine” after she was taken from prison to a cardiac hospital in Lahore, while his party said her family had been kept in the dark.
Rana Sanaullah, adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on political affairs, told the Senate on Thursday that Noreen Niazi had been “immediately provided with medical facilities”. “As per the information available, she is fine and all her medical tests are normal,” he said.
Niazi, one of three sisters of the jailed former prime minister detained since September under a public order law, was moved from Kot Lakhpat jail to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology on Wednesday, according to her lawyer. He said she had high blood pressure and claimed that no member of her family was told of her deteriorating health or allowed access to her during treatment.
Sanaullah, a senator from the ruling PML-N, was responding to a question from Ali Zafar, the parliamentary leader of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who asked about her condition and her transfer to hospital. Zafar went further than the lawyer, saying she had suffered a heart attack.
On the allegation that relatives were being refused access, Sanaullah said he would ask the relevant authorities. “We will try to have her relatives granted access to her,” he said, adding that the matter would be addressed if the claim proved true, depending on the circumstances at the hospital.
The exchange grew heated when PTI senator Mashal Azam Yousafzai repeatedly interrupted Sanaullah to question why Niazi was being held at all, prompting the Senate chair to call for order.
“She is in jail because she wanted to spread turmoil in the country,” Sanaullah replied. “She wanted to attack Islamabad by launching a long march and inciting the people.”
He told Zafar that, because Khan was in judicial custody, any relief over his health or family meetings should be sought from the courts. The matter was sub judice, he said, though he added that it was Zafar’s duty as a senator to raise it. Sanaullah said reports on Khan’s conditions in jail, including amenities and food, had been submitted to the Supreme Court and did not differ from the account given by the jail superintendent. He also remarked that politicians could stage protests to attract media attention, but that such activity should stay within the bounds of media coverage.
“Human kindness”
Speaking on a point of order, Zafar said Niazi had been detained without having committed any crime. Invoking Shakespeare’s phrase “milk of human kindness”, he urged the government to stop what he called grave human rights violations.
“If there is even a minimum of human kindness left in you, release her,” he said. “At least allow her family to meet her and ensure proper medical care.”
He also condemned the detention of Khan’s nephews, asking why relatives should suffer for their link to a political leader. He alleged that Khan had been held in solitary confinement for a year and tortured, and that his wife, Bushra Bibi, was also being treated inhumanely. The government denies this, saying both are given the facilities to which they are entitled.
In a separate statement, the PTI condemned Ms Niazi’s transfer to the cardiology institute without notice to her family. Sheikh Waqas Akram, the party’s central information secretary, called the handling of her emergency “callous and inhumane” and said denying relatives timely information about an elderly heart patient raised serious questions about prisoners’ rights, legal safeguards and basic human dignity.
“Noreen Niazi’s transfer to the PIC without prior notification to her family is alarming,” he said, demanding an immediate explanation from the Punjab government.
He called for her to be treated under the supervision of senior cardiologists, for the necessary diagnostic tests to be carried out, and for her family to be given access in line with the law. “The authorities must provide her family with complete, credible and timely information about her condition,” he said. He added that the party would not compromise on the protection of human life, health or constitutional freedoms.
Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Niazi were detained under Section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, on the orders of the Lahore deputy commissioner, Aleema on 20 September and the other two a day later. The orders came ahead of a countrywide PTI protest and march on Islamabad, called to demand Mr Khan’s release and what the party described as the supremacy of the Constitution, and amid reports of a crackdown on the party.
The initial 30-day orders have been extended for a further 30 days, which end on 20 November. Aleema’s son, Shahrez Khan, petitioned the Lahore High Court on 20 October challenging the detentions, and the court was told on Monday that the Punjab government had approved the extension on the deputy commissioner’s recommendation. The court had earlier declined to suspend the detention notifications for Uzma Khan and Ms Niazi while it sought replies from the authorities.
Khan’s own health has been a recurring dispute. Local media previously reported that he faced several concerns in Adiala jail, including fluctuating blood pressure, anxiety and an eye condition, although medical reports said his eyesight had improved after treatment.
On 18 August the Supreme Court ordered his transfer to Shifa International Hospital, weekly meetings with his family, access to his personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, and phone calls with his children. The government instead took him to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on the night of 20-21 August, citing security concerns, where specialists including doctors from Shifa examined him. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said he was declared medically fit and returned to Adiala.
The government says medical care will continue as required. The PTI says his treatment is badly handled and that the court’s directions are not being followed.
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