RAWALPINDI. A five-member team of specialist doctors on Sunday carried out a detailed medical examination of former prime minister Imran Khan in Adiala jail, though no party leaders showed up despite a government offer for them to witness the check-up.
On the other hand, the PTI rejected the inspection conducted without the presence of Imran’s family and personal physicians, terming it ‘malicious’.
The five-member team of senior physicians, including Dr Afaq, Dr Sikandar and Dr Arif, spent approximately one hour conducting various diagnostic evaluations. The examination covered an eye assessment and collection of blood samples for laboratory analysis.
The evaluation was initiated to meet a judicial deadline set by the Supreme Court, which requires a complete medical report to be submitted by February 16 (today).
Adiala jail Superintendent Sajid Baig said in a statement that a team comprising specialists from different hospitals visited the jail to conduct an eye examination of the former prime minister. He said the doctors arrived with medical equipment, medicines and other necessary supplies.
Baig said the team performed a detailed eye check-up under the supervision of a two-member medical board while strict security arrangements were put in place during the visit. He added that the medical team’s report was expected soon.
Earlier, the team waited inside the Adiala jail for nearly two-and-a-half hours for the arrival of PTI leadership to witness the check-up. However, no party leader showed up.
Despite the clinical proceedings, the PTI leadership formally rejected the validity of examination. In an official statement, the party criticised the absence of Khan’s family members and his personal physicians during the process. The party argued that the invitation extended to political leadership was a tactical diversion, maintaining that sensitive medical decisions remain the exclusive prerogative of Khan’s family and his private medical team. The party demanded immediate access for his personal doctors and an urgent meeting with his family.
The jail authorities have forwarded Imran Khan’s medical record to the Punjab Home Department. The documents include a complete chart of the inmate’s vital signs, blood pressure, pulse, temperature and blood sugar levels.
A report detailing his eye condition has also been sent, along with consultation reports and details of the medical staff involved in his care. The record specifies he was examined when and by which doctors.
On-duty doctors conduct medical examinations and record vital signs three times daily. The daily medical assessments and vital records are compiled regularly, they said.
The federal government previously constituted a specialised panel, featuring Dr Amjad and Dr Nadeem Qureshi, to oversee the recommendations regarding Khan’s health. Authorities have stated that any decision to transfer the former prime minister to a hospital for specialised treatment will depend entirely on the final findings of the medical board.
As the government awaits the final expert recommendations to determine its next course of action, the PTI continues to call for full transparency, describing the health of their founder as a matter of extreme national sensitivity.
The opposition party lawmakers continued their sit-in at the Parliament House for the second day, demanding that Imran be shifted to a hospital.
A protest also continued outside the KP House and all roads surrounding the building remained blocked with senior police officials present outside the official building.
Talking to the media outside the KP House, former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said their biggest demand at the moment was proper treatment of Imran Khan. “We are sitting here for the PTI founder and will continue to sit here. We have even expanded our sit-in. We demand that Imran be treated under the supervision of his personal physician or a family member,” he said.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the social media posts by federal ministers did not prove that Imran would be treated under the supervision of his personal physicians and family members. “If this actually happens, the matter will be settled here. We will end the sit-in, but if it does not happen, then after consultation with party leadership, the future course of action will be decided collectively,” he said.
Meanwhile, there was reportedly shortage of food and clean drinking water for the TTAP and PTI leaders and legislators, staging the sit-in for the third consecutive day at the Parliament House. The opposition alliance had announced the sit-in until the PTI founder was taken to a hospital of his personal doctors’ choice.
A statement of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who is staging a sit-in at KP House, also surfaced, making it clear that the situation could go out of his control if the issue was not resolved soon.
Speaking to reporters, PTI senior leader MNA Asad Qaiser said that his party, along with the opposition alliance, will continue the sit-in to pressure the government so that Imran can be taken to a hospital, vowing not compromise on his health.
He believed that the government was testing the stamina of the party and stressed that they have decided to continue their sit-ins until their demands are accepted and Imran Khan was taken to the Shifa International Hospital. He said the government representatives, throughout the day on Sunday, remained in contact with the PTI and TTAP leadership but could not give a proper response that the demands had been accepted.
In a statement, TTAP spokesman Akhunzada Hussain said that the sit-ins were being held at all three places i.e. in the Parliament House, outside the Parliament Lodges and at the KP House, where the KP chief minister had been staging a sit-in. He regretted, “It is unfortunate that even water and food are not being allowed to reach the Parliament House. We have been eating dates and biscuits. Mineral water has been consumed, so now parliamentarians have been drinking piped water”.
Pictures of TTAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Asad Qaiser, Noorul Haq Qadri, Senators Faisal Javed, Gurdeep Singh, Falak Naz, and Seemabiya Tahir sitting in the Parliament House lobby and in the open, were shared with the media.
Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), which Allama Nasir Abbas heads as its chairman, issued a statement and said that the majlis top leader was in bad health and that a delegation of parliamentarians had arrived at the Parliament House to deliver food to TTAP lawmakers but they were not allowed to do so. “Delivering food to parliamentarians is not allowed. Female members are also inside, concern has grown. The MPs delegation was at the gate but was not allowed to enter the parliament premises. An atmosphere of fascism and oppression has been imposed on the country…,” it was said.
A protest also continued outside the KP House and all roads surrounding the building remained blocked with senior police officials present outside the official building.
Earlier in the day, Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum said the party would not accept any medical board formed without the approval of PTI founder’s personal doctors. She referred to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry’s post on Saturday, which announced that a medical board would be set up. She added, “Secondly, we are hearing in the news that Imran Khan is to be taken to Al Shifa Eye Hospital in Rawalpindi. Our demand has been clear from the beginning that Imran Khan shall not be given any treatment without the presence and approval of his personal doctors and family members.”
She said: “We do not accept any medical board they set up and control. We do not accept any reports or results they manufacture.” She added that the family was “extremely worried as to why they are resisting the selection of doctors by Imran’s personal doctors.”
“Why are they rejecting the supervision by Imran Khan’s personal doctors? Why are they rejecting the presence of Imran Khan’s family members? Why such fierce resistance? Are they hiding something?” Aleema wondered.
On Sunday afternoon, Imran’s sister Noreen Khanum said in a statement on her X account that an ambulance had reached the Adiala jail to move Khan sahib to a hospital. But that was unacceptable to the party and the family. She said it was not acceptable without the family and Khan sahib’s personal doctors being taken into confidence.
Separately, PTI’s Central Media Department also issued a statement by its Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, who announced the party had categorically rejected the stage-managed medical examination of its founder, reportedly conducted by the government and jail authorities at Adiala jail, reaffirming that any such medical procedure carried out under these questionable circumstances — and any report generated as a result — cannot be considered credible, transparent or acceptable.
Waqas Akram also refuted the government claims and said that they refused to allow Imran’s sister, Dr Uzma Khan, to meet him, claiming that sisters would not be permitted to see their brother. He added that in place of Dr Uzma, the family had nominated their cousin, Dr Nausherwan Burki, to represent them, but even he was denied permission to meet Imran and participate in the medical examination.
He noted that from day one, the party and its founder’s family had maintained a clear and consistent demand: that Imran Khan be granted immediate access to his personal doctors and that his family be allowed to meet him without delay — a demand that remains firm and unequivocal, stressing that this is not a favour but his constitutional, legal, and fundamental right.
“Despite this, the government and jail authorities went ahead with a medical examination in the absence of both his family and his trusted physicians. Such an action is not only non-transparent but also raises serious questions about the government’s intentions,” he added.
Earlier on Sunday, Imran’s longtime personal physicians, Dr Asim Yusuf and Dr Faisal Sultan, issued a joint video statement that the ex-premier needed a comprehensive medical check-up that could be provided at the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
“In addition to urgent retina specialist care for his central retinal vein occlusion and severe vision loss, Imran Khan needs a full multidisciplinary evaluation of his underlying conditions at a tertiary hospital like Shifa International Islamabad,” read the post accompanying their statement.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed grave concern over reports regarding the deteriorating health of prisoners affiliated with the PTI, particularly Imran Khan and former Punjab health minister Yasmin Rashid.
In a statement, the HRCP urged the interior ministry, Punjab Home Department and relevant prison authorities to ensure that “all such inmates are allowed immediate, independent medical examinations and uninterrupted access to prescribed treatment.” Their condition must be verified with transparency, the rights body stressed.
It pointed out: “Denial or delay of adequate healthcare to any detainee violates legal and constitutional guarantees, including under the Prison Rules, as well as Pakistan’s human rights obligations.”
Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa remained cut off from other parts of the country as major roads connecting the province remained blocked due to protest by the PTI workers on Sunday.
The activists have blocked major roads since Saturday as a protest after expressing concern over the health of Imran Khan. Heavy contingents of police remained in the area to maintain law and order. On Sunday night, the authorities managed to open the GT Road for the tens of thousands of people stranded for long.
Many families returning from abroad via Islamabad Airport and officers and employees coming back after the weekend were also stuck.
Workers of the party had blocked the motorways and other routes in Swabi and other places. Workers also blocked the Hazara motorway.
Local elected members as well as cabinet members visited the protest camps on these roads where workers had blocked the road for over 30 hours.
“The sit-in will continue until they accept our demands. And if their stubbornness persists, our container with ‘freedom or death’ is ready, we can move forward any time,” provincial minister Meena Khan Afridi told reporters in Swabi.
He said Imran Khan must be provided basic human rights and his treatment should be carried out in the presence of his family by his own doctors.
There were exchanges of harsh words between locals and PTI workers at many places as thousands of people remained stranded for hours. They included women as well as patients. Many argued that this blockade will add to the issues faced by the people of the province, including price hike of food items coming from other provinces ahead of Ramazan.
A police official said the GT Road connecting KP with Punjab and Islamabad was opened on Sunday evening.
