By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the opposition party founded by former prime minister Imran Khan, expressed sharp concern and anger on Thursday over reports that his wife, Bushra Bibi, was abruptly taken from Adiala Jail in the middle of the night for medical treatment and returned hours later without any public explanation or notification to her family.
The party said the episode was shrouded in “unusual secrecy” and marked by a lack of transparency that has fueled suspicions of human rights violations. It demanded an independent medical report, immediate access for Bibi’s personal physicians and family members, and her transfer to a hospital of the family’s choosing for further evaluation.
The outcry followed media accounts late on Wednesday that Bibi, who is serving concurrent prison sentences, had been moved under tight security from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi to Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital in the same city for a follow-up examination of her right eye. She underwent surgery there last month for a diagnosed retinal detachment after complaining of impaired vision. Prison authorities at the time said specialists had recommended urgent intervention, and the procedure was performed on April 17 by a medical panel led by ophthalmologist Dr. Nadeem Qureshi. She was discharged the next day after an overnight stay and returned to jail.
PTI officials said they were not informed in advance of the latest overnight transfer, nor were they told which hospital she was taken to, what tests were conducted or why she was returned to her cell rather than kept under observation. “Why is the nation not being informed about her illness, if her condition deteriorated to the extent that she had to be urgently taken to the hospital in the middle of the night?” the party asked in a statement. “Which hospital was she taken to? What tests were conducted? Which doctors examined her? And on what basis was the decision made to transfer her back to jail?”
The party said Bibi has endured solitary confinement, mental stress and inhumane treatment for months, even as repeated concerns about her health have been raised. It accused authorities of denying her access to her own doctors, restricting family visits and withholding medical information — steps it called clear indications that something is being concealed.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, writing on X, said he had been informed that Bibi was taken for eye laser treatment on Wednesday night and then shifted back to jail. “I have requested for a family meeting today,” he wrote. “Awaiting that — we have grave concerns about Khan sb and Bushra Bibi’s health.” He demanded that both Khan and Bibi be moved to a hospital for comprehensive tests “in the presence of their family members under the supervision of their doctors.” “It is time to change this hide-and-seek approach to their health issues,” Gohar added. “Concern is growing. Immediate attention is required.”
The party called for Bibi to be shifted immediately to Shifa International Hospital, for an independent medical board and human rights organizations to be allowed to examine her, and for unrestricted access for her personal physicians and family. If any harm comes to her health, it warned, the current government, prison authorities and relevant institutions would bear “complete political, moral and legal responsibility.”
Khan himself, 74, underwent his fourth eye procedure last month at the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad. Hospital officials described it as an intravitreal injection to treat an ongoing retinal condition and reported clinical improvement. Like his wife, he remains at Adiala Jail. Bibi is serving a seven-year sentence in a £190 million corruption case and a 17-year term handed down in December 2025 in the separate Toshakhana-2 case, which involved the under-priced purchase of luxury state gifts during her husband’s time in office. Khan has been in custody since 2023 on a raft of charges including corruption, terrorism and treason — cases he and his party insist are politically motivated. He was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022 but retains significant popular support as Pakistan’s most prominent opposition figure.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
