Tarar says Imran to be treated by ‘best’ eye specialists amid opposition sit-in at Parliament House

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that further medical treatment of PTI founder Imran Khan would be carried out by eye specialists at a specialised medical institution, while the opposition continued its sit-in at Parliament House over concerns regarding the ex-premier’s health.

In a post on X, he said, “Pursuant to ongoing eye treatment of Imran Khan, further checkup and treatment will be done in a specialised medical facility by the best eye specialists.

“A detailed report thereof will also be submitted to the Supreme Court. Conjecture, speculations and efforts to turn this into political rhetoric and mileage for vested interests may please be avoided,” he said.

The remarks came as 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.

Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said on Saturday that Parliament House had been turned into a “prison”.

“We have been inside Parliament since yesterday. We wanted to go outside but all the gates were closed,” he said in a video posted by TTAP on X.

“Parliament and its premises have been turned into a prison; it is condemnable.”

“We are not armed. We are standing here with nothing but our ethics and the strength of the truth,” he added.

The Senate opposition leader noted that Imran, like other prisoners, had rights and that “90 per cent” of Pakistanis — both here and abroad — were expressing concerns over the PTI founder’s health.

In a post on X, 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 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.

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.

Reporters decry mistreatment

The Parliamentary Reporters Association Pakistan (PRAP) strongly condemned the “obstacles, mistreatment, and rude behaviour faced by journalists” while covering the ongoing sit-in at the Parliament House, and demanded that “all journalists be immediately allowed full access” to the premises.

A joint statement issued by PRAP President M.B. Soomro, PRAP Secretary Naveed Akbar, and other office-bearers said the opposition had been staging a sit-in at Parliament House since yesterday, in which the leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly (NA) and Senate, senators, and members of the NA are participating.

“Covering such an important political process is the professional responsibility of journalists, and preventing them from doing so is a blatant violation of the principles of press freedom,” it said.

According to the statement, “After covering the sit-in late last night, when Soomro, senior journalist Akram Abid, and other reporters reached the entrance of the Parliament House this morning, security personnel stopped them and pushed them away.

“An attempt was also made to forcibly put Abid into a police van,” it said.

The association expressed serious concern over the incident and said, “Preventing journalists from entering a national institution such as the Parliament House amounts to depriving them of their constitutional and professional rights. Turning the Parliament into a fortress and preventing the media from coverage reflects an undemocratic and authoritarian attitude.”

It further said: “If the media is prevented from performing its duties, the timely and accurate dissemination of information to the public will be affected, which is harmful to any democratic society.”

The association demanded that “all journalists be immediately allowed unhindered access to the Parliament House and that effective measures be taken to prevent such incidents in the future”.

The PRAP strongly condemned the “inappropriate and undemocratic conduct” and reaffirmed its commitment that “no restrictions on journalists’ professional rights, press freedom, and responsible reporting will be accepted”.

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.