By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, has accused Imran Khan’s sister of blocking a medical examination of the jailed former prime minister for three days, claiming she vetoed arrangements in an effort to prolong the controversy for political gain.
Speaking at a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday, Naqvi insisted the government had gone to great lengths to ensure Khan received proper treatment for a serious eye condition, but blamed opposition figures, including members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, for turning the matter into a political spectacle. “The medical report also came forward yesterday and everything is clear as per it,” Naqvi said. “Neither we nor the government want to politicise this.”
Khan, who has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail since August 2023, was diagnosed last month with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in his right eye, a condition linked to cardiovascular risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. The ailment came to light after Khan complained of losing about 85% of his vision in the affected eye, prompting widespread concern from his family, party and supporters.
A medical report submitted to the supreme court detailed that Khan’s unaided vision in his right eye was 6/24, improving to 6/9 with glasses, while his left eye was 6/9 unaided and 6/6 with correction. Jail authorities arranged for a team of doctors from multiple hospitals to examine him on Sunday, administering a minor procedure involving an injection, with a second dose planned in the coming weeks and a follow-up after a month.
Naqvi said the procedure could have been done in the jail, but as a precaution against infection, Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad. “I will tell you very clearly that when any prisoner needs treatment, it is our duty,” he said, adding that the government had selected top doctors from both public and private sectors to conduct the check-up.
The minister detailed how he had invited PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan to witness the examination at Adiala jail, setting a time of 2:30pm on Sunday. “We kept on waiting for an hour but Gohar sahib replied in the negative, that he has consulted with his party and would not be able to come,” Naqvi said. “Our intention was that the checkup be performed in front of everyone.”
Instead, Gohar, along with opposition leaders in the senate and national assembly – Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Mehmood Khan Achakzai – and doctors recommended by the PTI, were invited to Pims for a briefing. There, the examining physicians spoke at length with the PTI-nominated doctors over the phone, with each conversation lasting around 45 minutes. “They asked each and everything,” Naqvi said. He quoted the PTI doctors as responding positively: “Excellent. This is the best treatment. Even if we had to provide treatment, we would have done the same.”
The opposition representatives, he added, expressed satisfaction and promised to inform their supporters accordingly. But Naqvi reserved his sharpest criticism for Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, whom he accused of derailing the process. “The medical checkup could not take place for three days just because of her,” he said. “On one hand, they claim to have great empathy, relation and everything. On the other hand, politics has been done to the utmost over this.”
He claimed Aleema had told PTI members that accepting the government’s arrangements would cause “the issue [to] die down”, effectively vetoing proposals despite broad agreement from other political figures. “Almost all political leaders used to be on board but Aleema Khan sahiba vetoed them. She used to reject everything,” Naqvi said. “The problem is they want to cash this matter.”
The interior minister questioned why, despite these efforts, PTI supporters were blocking roads and staging protests, including a five-day sit-in outside parliament in Islamabad and demonstrations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the party holds power. The protests demand that Khan be shifted to a hospital for a week under the care of his personal physicians and family.
Naqvi recalled earlier communications facilitated by national assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, where the government sought the name of a non-political eye specialist. The PTI insisted on a family member accompanying the doctor, and even nominated Khan’s cousin Kasim, which was approved. But then, he said, they demanded hospital admission regardless: “When both things had taken place, they said ‘no, not like this, you must admit him to a hospital for a week and we will not accept anything else’.” He stressed that hospitalisation would be granted “100 per cent” – even for two weeks – if doctors recommended it, but not merely on the PTI’s say-so. “But if the doctors do not recommend, then how can we have him admitted?” Naqvi asked.
Family members of Khan and his opposition allies have fiercely rejected Naqvi’s portrayal of the politician’s recent medical examination, accusing the government of misleading the public and delaying essential treatment amid growing fears for his health.
Khan’s sisters – Aleema, Uzma Khanum and Noreen Niazi – held a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, dismissing the official medical report as lacking credibility and detail, while the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) opposition alliance described Naqvi’s statements as “blatantly misleading and contrary to the facts”.
In a statement, the TTAP said distrust of government-appointed doctors was a unanimous decision by Khan’s family, PTI leadership and the alliance, emphasising that “only the incarcerated leader’s family has the right to make a decision regarding his health”. It rejected Naqvi’s invitation to political leaders to witness the check-up as a “facade”, and reiterated demands for Khan’s personal physicians to be present during examinations.
The group highlighted Khan’s prolonged solitary confinement as amounting to torture under international standards, noting that his last consultation with a personal doctor was in November 2024 and family visits had been suspended for two and a half months. “Claiming that he was being given the best of facilities was a mockery of truth,” the statement said, warning against attempts to suppress facts or cover up violations. “Concealing facts was unacceptable,” it added.
At the sisters’ press conference, Aleema relayed a message from Khan, conveyed through relatives who met his wife Bushra Bibi at Adiala jail. She said Khan had complained of eye problems, demanding that medical reports be shared with his chosen doctors, Faisal Sultan and Aasim Yusuf, and calling for blood tests to be conducted. “He said he conveyed to the jail superintendent that he was unable to see, but no one bothered to provide him medical treatment for three weeks,” Aleema said, adding that Khan had suggested filing a criminal negligence case against the official.
Aleema claimed his vision had been perfect until three months ago, but complaints to jail authorities went unheeded. She alleged the government had initially agreed to treatment at Shifa International Hospital but later switched to Al Shifa Eye Hospital, and rejected nominated doctors such as Nosherwan Barki. “If Naqvi was not afraid of Imran, he should allow moving the PTI founder to Shifa International,” she said. “They are scared of Imran Khan.”
She further accused Naqvi of promising treatment at Shifa before departing for a trip to Sri Lanka but failing to follow through, and said family access was denied despite offers to send doctors in their place. Uzma recounted receiving government calls that allowed Khan’s cousin Qasim Zaman to attend but rejected Barki and Yusuf, adding that even a subsequent offer for Yusuf was not honoured. Uzma criticised the medical report for omitting key details on diagnosis and treatment. “We do not know what kind of injection was administered to Imran. Was it an injection of poison?” she asked, invoking Khan’s earlier expressed fears of being killed in jail. She claimed international doctors had reviewed the report and deemed it unprofessional. The PTI, in a post on X, condemned Naqvi’s earlier remark implying the government could “tighten” Khan’s conditions if it wished, calling it “deeply alarming” amid reports of vision loss. “A senior official openly implying deliberate worsening of custody conditions raises serious concerns about hidden mistreatment,” the party said. It described prolonged solitary confinement as internationally recognised as harmful, particularly with pre-existing conditions, and argued that combined with deteriorating eyesight and treatment secrecy, such threats became “far more sinister”. “This is not mere rhetoric; it concerns actual custodial reality,” the post added. “A state claiming rule of law must prove it through actions, not threats. When power lacks transparency and such insinuations are normalised, the risk of custodial abuse becomes urgent and credible.”
Separately, parliamentary affairs minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry posted on X that Khan’s treatment would continue at the best hospitals in Islamabad or Rawalpindi under expert supervision, with his family consulted at every stage. “The government clarifies that no negligence will be committed,” Chaudhry wrote. “All prisoners are equal for us and their health is the state’s responsibility. Politicisation should be avoided on this matter, and baseless doubts should not be spread.”
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