Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday camped outside the Supreme Court in an effort to facilitate a meeting between incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and his personal physicians.
The development comes a day after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed that Imran underwent a medical procedure for an eye ailment last week at a hospital in Islamabad. According to the minister, the former premier was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad for a “20-minute” medical procedure on the night of January 24.
Afridi, who had also camped outside Adiala jail, where Imran is incarcerated, until the early hours of Friday night, had reached the apex court in the morning.
He left for a short period of time to offer Friday prayer at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, before returning to the SC premises. Later, Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir also joined the sit-in.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Afridi said, “The whole nation is concerned about the health of the country’s most popular leader, Imran Khan.”
He said that he would try to arrange a meeting between the PTI founder and his personal physicians with the help of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).
The KP chief executive said the party would announce its future course of action if its attempts to arrange a meeting with Imran don’t bear fruit after approaching the apex court.
He lamented that while the courts are issuing decisions on petitions, “we are not getting justice”.
“Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s cases have not been listed for one year. If the cases are listed today and we are provided justice, Khan sahib and Bushra Bibi, along with other leaders, will be released from prison within half an hour,” he claimed.
“We were left with no option, so we opted for the only one available,” he added.
In response to a question on concluding the protest outside Adiala jail, where the KP chief minister, along with other lawmakers and party workers, had camped, he said, “I have come here.”
PTI leaders meet AGP
Following their arrival at the SC, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and party leader and lawmaker Sardar Latif Khosa met the registrar of the apex court and the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP).
During the meeting, Raja and Khosa expressed the party’s concern regarding Imran’s eye ailment and requested that the medical report of the doctor who treated the former premier be provided.
It is believed that the AGP assured them that their request would be accommodated.
Addressing the media outside, Khosa said he reminded the registrar and the attorney general of Pakistan that the CJP should promote good practices before he retires, as “this (Imran’s case) is not only a human rights issue, but he (Imran) is also being deprived of his basic rights.”
“He (CJP) has taken an oath that implementation on Constitution and basic rights [of people] is his basic responsibility. He is the protector of the basic rights of Pakistanis,” he said.
Khosa claimed that the procedure of retina rupture did not last “20-minutes” as shared by the information minister, but “it is 2.5 hours”.
He said Imran’s health was PTI’s “red line” and any matter related to his health “will not be tolerated at any cost”.
“This is his legal and constitutional right,” added Khosa. “I told the registrar to share our concerns with the CJP,” he said.
Khosa also said that Imran was being deprived of his basic rights.
“He (CJP) has taken oath that implementation on Constitution and basic rights [of people] is his basic responsibility. He is the protector of basic rights of Pakistanis,” he said.
He said Imran’s health was their “red line” and anything related to his health “will not be tolerated at any cost”. “I told the registrar to share our concerns with the CJP,” he said.
Meanwhile, Afridi and other party leaders staged an impromptu sit-in outside the apex court, saying they would sit there till they received a response from the registrar.
A large contingent of police, with prisoner vans, was deployed outside the SC premises.
‘Secrecy is cancer to democracy’
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and party leader Babar Awan also addressed the media on Friday at KP House, saying that the “one-point agenda” for the press conference was Imran’s health.
Referring to the former prime minister’s brief stay at Islamabad’s Pims hospital, he said, “Secrecy is cancer to democracy. His (Imran Khan’s) family is worried due to his health.”
Gohar demanded that doctors from Shaukat Khanum Hospital be allowed to examine the former prime minister. “Dr Faisal and Dr Asim should be allowed to meet Khan sahib.”
The party chairman added that neither the party nor Imran’s family was informed about his health or treatment.
Awan, addressing the media, said if the report regarding Imran’s health is not made public, “it will have grave consequences” and added that the party and its supporters were anxious regarding the former premier’s health.
Additional input from Abdullah Momand
