ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians from opposition parties, under the banners of PTI and Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), continued their sit-in at Parliament House and KP House in Islamabad on Saturday for a second day, demanding that PTI founder Imran Khan be immediately moved to a hospital for treatment.
The sit-in was announced after the Supreme Court (SC) was informed on Thursday that Imran’s right eye had only 15 per cent vision remaining, prompting a strong response from the party.
The sit-in started after Friday prayers and continued overnight. Participants in the sit-in are demanding that PTI founder Imran Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital.
The protest is being led by TTAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai and other prominent leaders, including PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Senator Ali Zafar, Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar, and others.
In a post on X on Saturday, PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja said the Parliament House, Parliament Lodges, and the KP House “had been turned into a jail”.
Demanding that they “be set free”, the senior PTI leader alleged that the state was “terrified” of them taking to the streets.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in an earlier post on X that the sit-in had entered its second day, adding that the opposition leaders were “trapped” inside Parliament House.
“We also remained inside Parliament House the entire night,” he said, adding that the PTI and TTAP leadership was “exhausted from hunger”.
“The police did not allow dinner at night and now breakfast in the morning to be taken inside,” Akram claimed.
TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar also attempted to deliver breakfast to the protesting opposition members from the rear side of Parliament House but was stopped by the police.
Khokhar wrote on X at around 11am: “Outside the parliament to deliver food and water to friends inside. Wouldn’t mind not being let in but the refusal to let food and water go in is highly insensitive.”
“There’s no other name for this heartless behaviour but ‘yazidiat’,” he added.
TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai told Dawn that the sit-in was continuing at both locations. He said it was unfortunate that even breakfast was not being allowed inside Parliament and added that no one was being allowed to enter the premises.
“On the other hand, those who are in Parliament are not being allowed to come out. The sit-in will continue until TTAP’s demand is accepted,” he said.
According to Yousafzai, PTI Senator Falak Naz Chitrali was feeling unwell since last night.
Yousafzai, criticising the government for not contacting the protesters, said TTAP Vice Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas was also attending the sit-in.
PTI leader Shandana Gulzar, speaking to the media, said it was unfortunate that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi gave four days to have Imran examined by a team of doctors.
She questioned whether the same time frame would have been given if it were the chief justice’s daughter or Nawaz Sharif. “The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister is staging a sit-in at KP House and protesting against the government’s unjust behaviour. We are demanding that Imran Khan be shifted to Shifa International Hospital.”
She alleged that the government was waiting for further damage to Imran’s eye.
Gulzar further said that the police had manhandled the parliamentarians and other leaders of the opposition.
It is worth mentioning that Achakzai had urged the prime minister to get Imran checked by doctors of his choice; however, the government has not given any response.
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) spokesperson Aslam Ghauri, in a statement, condemned the “violence” against the TTAP protest outside Parliament.
“Respected members of Parliament and provincial assemblies were dragged,” he said, adding that those who had “trapped the protesters inside Parliament call themselves democratic”.
“Making a mockery of democracy, playing around with the Constitution and going against Islam are the actions of this government,” he alleged, quipping that the “fake forced government had gone mad in the fire of revenge”.
The JUI-F leader demanded that all detained leaders be immediately released.
He blamed the government’s attitude for the anarchy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Do the rulers want to spread this anarchy across the country?” he asked.
Awaam Pakistan leaders to join sit-in
The Awam Pakistan party directed all leaders to immediately participate in the sit-in, while the party’s leadership departed for the venue to join the protest, according to a party statement.
Dr Zafar Mirza, the party’s central spokesperson, will represent the Awaam Pakistan at the sit-in, while party leaders from Rawalpindi and Islamabad are also accompanying him.
“The supremacy of the Constitution and the protection of democratic values are our top priorities,” Mirza said, adding that the Islamabad police and administration had “turned the Red Zone into a prison”.
“The government has placed barriers on all routes leading to KP House [in Islamabad].”
KP CM urges voluntary protesters to remain peaceful
Separately, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi urged protesters in other locations across the country to remain peaceful.
“Imran Khan sahib’s health is more important to me than politics. I will neither engage in politics myself over his health nor allow anyone else to do so,” he affirmed on X.
He stressed: “At this time, those workers who have stepped up on their own without any official call — wherever you are, stay peaceful, and nearby workers, support them. All of you must remain peaceful going forward as well.
“Those opposing Imran Khan sahib, who have subjected him to medical terrorism, are capable of going to any extremes. They will include their own provocative elements amongst us to divert our peaceful protest in another direction and target us.”
The KP CM urged protesters to keep an eye on “all provocative individuals and continue the peaceful protest”. “Do not believe any negative or false propaganda unless it is verified by Imran Khan sahib’s family and party,” Afridi added.
“A mockery has been made out of his health, which is unforgivable. Right now, his best possible treatment is our top priority,” the chief minister emphasised.
SC still has not provided written orders: Aleema
Earlier on Saturday, Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum criticised the Supreme Court for its alleged inaction to ensure its directives are implemented by the government.
In a post on X, she recalled that lawyers waited “all day on Thursday the 12th and all day Friday the 13th for written court orders” from the SC.
“The order should have been for Imran Khan to be shifted to Shifa International Hospital. Emergency orders for his immediate examination and treatment by specialist doctors under supervision of his personal doctors,” she asserted.
Citing information given to their lawyers, she claimed that CJP Afridi had left on an urgent tour to Punjab to “watch the jeep rally in Cholistan”.
“The urgent and pressing matter for our CJP (taking precedence over the extreme urgency to save Imran Khan’s eyesight in his right eye), we are told, is to watch the jeep rally in Cholistan. Ofcourse this could be totally fabricated information!” Aleema said.
She added that the CJP would be back in office on February 16, noting it was the same date he had set as the deadline for Imran to be seen by specialists.
Aleema stated: “Without a court order for the Govt, Imran Khan is certainly not going to receive any emergency medical care. The court order has to wait until the CJP returns to office on Monday from the Cholistan jeep rally!”
“Since CJP didn’t give a court order for Imran Khan’s treatment, people will have to support us to ensure there is enough pressure on the [government], so they will allow him to be treated at Shifa International Hospital,” she added.
PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan also said CJP Afridi and the “courts should have acted well in time”.
“PM Imran Khan must be given immediate access to qualified doctors and medical facilities in Shifa International Hospital Islamabad to save the vision in his eye,” he demanded.
“Every moment being delayed is criminal,” the former MNA contended.
Imran should be moved to Shifa Hospital: personal physician
In a video statement issued on Friday night, Imran’s personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, suggested that the PTI founder be moved to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad so that the required expert care could be provided to him.
Dr Sultan, who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH), referred to media reports about Imran losing 85 per cent of vision in his right eye.
“This is obviously a matter of grave concern, but also lends great importance to the timeliness of treatment. In addition to timely and urgent treatment, it is crucially important that such treatment may be delivered by specialists in the field of retinal surgery,” the physician stressed.
He explained that retina was a subspecialty of ophthalmology, and such specialists are especially trained and qualified to manage this kind of illness in the eye.
“The other important aspect to consider is that many times retinal problems are a reflection of underlying illnesses, which also require management, diagnosis, and review. This is not only to make sure that the existing afflicted eye can be improved and, you know, vision restored if possible, but also that the good eye is maintained in its present health and is safeguarded,” Dr Sultan said.
He further emphasised that such specialists need to be able to “work in an environment, a hospital, or a centre that maintains high standards of care, and also has the right equipment and infrastructure to provide the sophisticated and coordinated care required by Mr Imran Khan at this time”.
“One such institution is the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, which is a joint internationally certified hospital, and I believe that they do have the right infrastructure and the specialists to be able to provide this care at high quality and at excellence, which is to ensure that Mr Khan receives the care that he requires at this time.”
Dr Sultan expressed an additional request to the authorities, which was that he, Dr Asim Yousuf, or both of them be included whenever a medical team is formed for Imran’s care, to help provide all the necessary insight into the ex-premier’s medical history.
“This information and insight into his health care will provide additional value and put together the holistic team that is required at this time to deal with this very challenging problem,” he highlighted.
Imran will be taken wherever he prefers for medical treatment: minister
A day earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry spoke to the media ahead of the sit-in outside Parliament. He was asked about the blockade during the media talk, at which he maintained that the opposition had a right to protest. He went on to claim that the “blockade was not from the government’s side.”
He held that the government has “repeatedly” assured the opposition that “no negligence will be tolerated regarding Imran’s health”.
“There is no need to deal with it politically; it is a medical issue,” he added.
Chaudhry, during his media talk, gave assurance that the PTI founder would be taken “wherever he prefers” for medical treatment amid claims regarding the incarcerated leader’s vision, stating that there would be “no negligence in the matter”.
“Wherever he (Imran) wants to go for a check-up, he will be taken. If he wants to go to Al-Shifa Eye Trust, then he will be taken there. There will be no negligence in the matter.”
“If the CJP recommends a doctor, he will be taken there,” Chaudhry added.
He called on the opposition to refrain from politicising the issue. “This is a sensitive issue; politicising it and misrepresenting facts is completely unfair.”
He added that the incarcerated leader would “now be examined by eye doctors or super-specialists, and we will try to ensure he receives every possible treatment available”.
Addressing claims of Imran’s deteriorating vision, the minister dismissed the reports and stated, “The issue did not surface when Imran’s sister met him on Dec 2 or on Dec 9 when he was examined by a medical board or on Dec 20 when the Toshakhana verdict was announced.”
“The complaint was not brought up anywhere before,” the minister said.
He further recalled that, “On January 16, it was recommended by a doctor that Imran be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for an eye checkup. It is also on record that he was not shifted at the request of PTI, but the jail authorities and the government”.
He said that following Imran’s procedure on Jan 24, a medical report was issued by the doctors, “and then there is a ‘report’ by the lawyer” — referring to PTI counsel Advocate Salman Safdar’s report submitted to the SC.
He added that a new medical report will be issued soon.
The minister said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Yahya Afridi, was “himself looking after the case”.
