ISLAMABAD: The political party of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday rejected what it described as a government-issued medical report about his eye condition, demanding authorities allow family members and his personal physician to examine him in prison.
Health concerns emerged last week after a court-appointed lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, visited Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail and reported that the former premier had suffered “severe vision loss” in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), leaving him with about 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
Jail authorities said a team of doctors from multiple hospitals examined Khan on Sunday and submitted findings to a court. A two-page medical document circulated on social media and published by several local media outlets. but not officially released or verified by the government, stated that unaided vision in Khan’s right eye was 6/24 and 6/9 in the left, improving to 6/9 (partial) and 6/6 respectively with glasses.
The document said Khan was examined by Prof. Nadeem Qureshi of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital and Prof. M. Arif of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, and that his personal physicians were briefed afterward.
“In light of Dr. Asim’s statement on the report issued by the government regarding the eye examination of Imran Khan, in which he said that he neither met Khan nor could he talk to him nor could he examine him or take care of him, therefore he can neither confirm nor deny it, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf rejects this report,” the party said in a statement.
The party reiterated its demand that Khan’s family and personal physician be allowed to meet him and that he be examined at a private facility.
“To issue such a report by having doctors of one’s choice examine him shows that something is definitely being hidden,” it said.
Officials say Khan’s condition has improved and that treatment decisions rest with doctors and courts.
“His eye [condition] has improved and is better than before,” State Minister Tallal Chaudry told reporters on Monday.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan is involved, and doctors are involved. What medicine he receives, whether he needs to be hospitalized or sent home, these decisions are made by doctors. Neither lawyers nor any political party will decide this.”
Khan’s health has sparked protests by supporters, including demonstrations and road closures in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where his party governs, and a sit-in outside parliament in Islamabad.
Khan, a former cricket star who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022 before being removed in a parliamentary vote of no confidence, has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases he says are politically motivated. The government denies the allegations.
