RAWALPINDI: A five-member medical team from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Tuesday conducted a detailed medical examination of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan at the Adiala jail.
The jail authorities had requested the Pims administration for a comprehensive medical check-up of Imran. The medical board consisted of General Physician Dr. Ali Arif, General Surgeon Dr. Tariq Abdullah, Pathologist Dr. Saman Waqar, Dermatologist Dr. Mubashir and Lab Technician Noman Iqbal. Further details about the medical check-up findings were not officially disclosed.
Meanwhile, a scheduled meeting between Imran Khan and his family and party leadership was denied amid heightened security measures and concerns over potential protests.
Khan’s sisters, including Aleema Khan, Dr. Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan, and several PTI leaders were denied access to the jail, prompting Aleema and the party workers to stage a sit-in at the Factory Naka checkpoint. Security around the jail was dramatically increased in anticipation of the visit and possible unrest.
The police deployed 1,200 personnel, including two Superintendents of Police (SPs), eight Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), and specialized units such as the Elite Force, Dolphin Force and PC personnel, along with 48 lady police officers. The police were equipped with the anti-riot gear. A water cannon was ready on the premises and areas surrounding the prison, including shops, educational institutions and petrol pumps, were shut down.
Imran’s sisters were initially stopped at the Gorakhpur checkpoint before being permitted to proceed to Factory Naka. Speaking to the media, Aleema Khan expressed frustration over repeated denial of meetings. “We have not been permitted a meeting for a long time,” she said, arguing that the former prime minister was being subjected to “mental torture.”
Addressing previous reports, Aleema Khan maintained that her sister had not engaged in political discussion during the last permitted visit, asserting that “criticizing government employees is not political talk”. She questioned the basis for keeping her brother in solitary confinement and lamented that they had been attempting to secure a meeting for the past month.
While the sit-in was underway, Aleema Khan repeatedly urged the party workers to maintain order and step back from the checkpoint. She emphasized a peaceful approach, telling workers, “We have no fight with the police — police officers are our brothers, they are very good to us.” She also addressed media scrutiny, questioning, “How is criticism of an institution or its head considered a national security threat? Journalists should think before they speak; otherwise, I will not talk.”
After being informed that the permission to meet Imran had been denied, Aleema Khan, accompanied by prominent party members including Salman Akram Raja, Sanaullah Mastikhel, and Dr. Shabbir Qureshi, held an internal consultation before staging the sit-in.
Khalid Iqbal adds: Speaking at the Dahgal checkpoint, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said meeting the party founder was their legal right. He noted that the Islamabad High Court had ordered that the family and lawyers be given access to Imran but the same was being denied to them. Political disagreements, he said, should not turn into hostility. He added that the situation would ease once meetings with Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi resumed. The protest followed a day of heightened security around the jail, where commercial centres and educational institutions from Gorakhpur to the Dahgal checkpoint remained closed.
Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja Tuesday rejected outright the medical examination of the PTI founder by government (hospital) doctors.
In a conversation with the media in Rawalpindi, Salman Akram said that they do not accept any medical report from the government, as they wanted to meet the founder of the PTI and Bushra Bibi. He said that “if there is no meeting despite the court orders, what should we do, we come here peacefully”.
Salman Akram said that he is unaware of what the PTI’s parliamentary party discussed with (PM’s Special Assistant on Political Affairs) Rana Sanaullah, however, the parliamentary party’ s discussion regarding the meeting with the founder and Bushra Bibi is correct.
About the possible protest, he maintained that the decision on how the protest will be held will be made by proposed leaders of opposition in the NA and the Senate Mahmood Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas respectively. However, he emphasised that their protest and resistance will be in accordance with the Constitution and law
