‘State has committed a crime against Imran’: PTI lashes out over party founder’s reported vision loss

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja accused the state on Thursday of “committing a crime” against incarcerated former premier Imran Khan, after the Supreme Court (SC) was informed that only 15 per cent vision was left in the PTI founder’s right eye.

The information was shared in a report submitted to the SC by PTI counsel Advocate Salman Safdar, who quoted the PTI founder as telling him that “he has been left with only 15pc vision in his right eye”.

Subsequently, Raja, alongside Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, spoke to the media outside the SC.

He said, “A crime has been committed against Imran Khan, and this state has committed this crime.” The PTI secretary general further stated that the “face of this crime is Abdul Ghafoor Anjum. We will not forget this name”.

Anjum has served as the jail superintendent at the Adiala jail, where Imran is imprisoned. Safdar told the court today that according to jail staff, he was transferred on Jan 16, being replaced by Sajid Baig.

Raja said Safdar had conveyed Imran’s “special instruction” to him to immediately file a case against Anjum.

The PTI secretary general also said it was difficult for him to control his emotions after reading the report.

He said the pain in Imran’s eye began in November, and “sometime in December, he completely lost vision in his right eye”.

“Yet Imran was only given drops meant to treat irritation in the eye. He was not taken to hospital, and a qualified doctor to treat eye ailments was also not called. Instead, prison doctors kept giving him eye drops as Imran continued to complain that the pain in his eye was not subsiding,” he alleged.

Raja further claimed: “When the situation worsened, Ghafoor Anjum was immediately replaced on January 16. The new administrator who replaced him also wasted 10 days before a doctor from Pims, Dr Arif, was called [to the Adiala jail] on January 26,”

The PTI secretary general said Dr Arif, after examining Imran’s eye, advised that he should immediately be taken to the hospital. The former premier was administered treatment, including an injection, at the hospital, Pims in Islamabad.

“The word used [in the report for Imran’s ailment] is occlusion of the retina,” Raja said, adding that Imran was quoted as saying that after treatment at the hospital, he regained 10pc-15pc vision in his right eye. “He is able to detect light through that eye, but he has not [fully] regained his vision.”

“This is a very painful and terrifying situation,” he said, adding that they had no information about what medical condition was affecting Imran’s vision.

He stressed the need for Imran’s medical examination at the earliest by doctors trusted by the PTI founder, family and public.

“The ongoing situation is unacceptable,” he asserted.

Pointing out that there were no doctors in Pims to treat ailments pertaining to the retina while Shifa International in Islamabad had two such doctors, he alleged that they were “deliberately” not asked to examine and treat Imran.

“So, several people are involved in the crime that has been committed against Imran. All of those names will be revealed, we will not hide any of them. Khan sahib has himself identified one of them, Abdul Ghafoor Anjum. A case will be filed against him immediately.”

Raja further alleged that “the Islamabad High Court is also involved” in this matter, questioning why Imran’s cases were not being fixed for hearing.

Meanwhile, “the condition of one of the eyes of the biggest leader of this nation is very concerning. And we have no information about his overall health condition”.

Despite this, Raja continued, Imran had directed his party to approach the courts. “We will not spare these courts. This nation and history will avenge the crime committed by these courts,” he said, demanding that Imran’s cases be fixed for hearing.

He also asserted that no reason was left to keep Imran behind bars and “freedom is his right now”.

“He will get freedom and this nation will get him freedom. We will fight his case inside and outside courts,” Raja said.

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