By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Thursday renewed demands for transparency over the health of its jailed founder Imran Khan, accusing the government of fostering public unease through its silence on the former prime minister’s deteriorating eyesight.
The PTI, in a statement posted on the social media platform X, expressed profound concern over growing national anxiety about Khan’s condition, which has been a focal point since his diagnosis with right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in late January. “Any ambiguity surrounding the health of a leader who commands the confidence of millions is unacceptable. The government’s silence and lack of clarity have only intensified public unease rather than alleviating it,” the party said. It described the issue as a test of national trust, human rights and government responsibility. “Any uncertainty regarding his health and safety is intolerable.”
The party reiterated calls for Khan’s personal physicians to be granted immediate and unrestricted access to conduct necessary medical examinations, including blood tests and other diagnostic procedures. It also demanded that Khan be allowed to visit a hospital or diagnostic centre of their choice if scans or specialised evaluations were required. “It is the government’s responsibility to provide the nation with clear, verified, and unambiguous medical facts,” the PTI said, warning that a significant amount of time had already been wasted and no further delays would be acceptable.
Khan, who has been incarcerated for more than two years, has seen repeated attempts by family members and senior party leaders to visit him at Adiala jail blocked by authorities in recent weeks. A Supreme Court intervention on Feb. 10 permitted PTI lawyer Salman Safdar to meet Khan, during which the former premier reported having only 15 percent vision left in his right eye. This followed confirmation of a medical procedure Khan underwent on the night of Jan. 24, details of which emerged days later without apparent prior knowledge by his family. A government-formed medical board that examined Khan on Feb. 15 reported that, without aids, his right eye had 6/24 partial vision and his left eye 6/9. With glasses, the vision improved to 6/9 partial in the right eye and 6/6 in the left.
The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), which held a six-day sit-in at Parliament House over Khan’s health, echoed similar demands on Friday, calling for complete and confidential access for Khan’s physicians Dr Aasim Yusuf and Dr Faisal Sultan, along with copies of his medical tests and diagnostic reports. Dr Yusuf and Dr Sultan have previously stated that Khan requires a comprehensive medical check-up, which could be provided at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
Separately, Khan’s son Kasim expressed gratitude to former international cricket captains who issued a humanitarian appeal for better treatment of his father in prison. “I’m incredibly grateful to all the Test captains who’ve called for fair treatment for my father. It’s heartening to see support from these legends of the game,” Kasim said in a post on X. The response came after an article by England’s Mike Atherton in The Times highlighted the appeal, signed on Tuesday by 14 former captains including Atherton, India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, Australia’s Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Belinda Clark and Kim Hughes, England’s Nasser Hussain, Mike Brearley and David Gower, West Indies’ Clive Lloyd, and New Zealand’s John Wright. The campaign, led by Greg Chappell, a contemporary of Khan, stated: “As fellow cricketers who understand the values of fair play, honour, and respect that transcend the boundary rope, we believe that a person of Imran Khan’s stature deserves to be treated with the dignity and basic human consideration befitting a former national leader and a global sporting icon.”
Amid speculation over possible negotiations for Khan’s release, PTI leader Barrister Umair Niazi said Khan did not wish to secure freedom through a deal similar to that of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif. “When you sit in these kinds of negotiations, you have to give many concessions too. The biggest example before us is of Nawaz [Sharif],” Niazi told a private television channel. “He paid a price for those negotiations; he had to leave practical politics, had to leave the country, go into exile, and had to sign a paper deal.”
The PTI has been in conflict with the ruling coalition since 2023, staging multiple marches to Islamabad demanding Khan’s release, though these efforts have been met with crackdowns and arrests. Negotiations mediated by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in early 2025 ended inconclusively after the PTI withdrew, citing the government’s failure to form judicial commissions on the events of May 9, 2023, and Nov. 26, 2024, within a seven-day deadline as per its charter of demands.
Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar denied reports of any deal for Khan, posting on X: “There is no deal or concession regarding Imran. It is absolutely wrong to give the impression of any concession to Imran. He is a convicted criminal and the news regarding concession is baseless; there is no truth in these reports.”
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