• Pims doctors examine ex-PM after personal physician ‘sent back’, declare him fit & healthy
• Raoof Hasan says govt reneged on commitment, party will ‘reconsider’ protest

ISLAMABAD / LONDON: Barrister Gohar Ali Khan’s statement about former prime minister Imran Khan being in good health failed to sway the party on Tuesday after Jemima Goldsmith expressed her concerns about the well-being of her ex-husband, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala jail.

The government had banned the entry of visitors to Adiala jail, but on Tuesday a team of doctors was allowed to visit Imran Khan in jail for a medical check-up.

The development came after the PTI agreed to call off its protest in Islamabad’s Red Zone on the first day of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on the assurance that a medical team would be allowed to meet the PTI leader in prison.

One of the party’s demands was that Mr Khan’s own physician be allowed to examine him. However, the family doctor was turned back from the gate.

In light of this, some PTI leaders claimed they would reconsider the decision to call off the protest, accusing the government of reneging on its commitment.

A team of Pims doctors who examined Imran Khan said the former premier appeared to be “perfectly fine” and allegations of poisoning him and health concerns were nothing but ‘political statements’.

Their report, shared on X by Barrister Gohar late on Tuesday night, explained that Mr Khan appeared to be in good health and was active. He did not have a fever but complained of an upset stomach, the report said. According to the report, Mr Khan has been suffering from “tinnitus for the last few months, for which he is already taking medications”, adding that “he is otherwise fit & healthy”.

“Imran Khan even asked why doctors had come to examine him as he did not request for a medical check-up and had no health-related issues,” hospital sources told Dawn.

In an earlier tweet, Barrister Gohar reported that: “Today at about 4pm two doctors — an ENT specialist and a medical specialist visited Khan saab at Adiala jail. We were informed a while ago that Alhamdullillah, Khan saab is in good health and had exercised for an hour

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today. We shall get medical reports from them soon… I express my gratitude to every worker and supporter of PTI who were concerned about Khan saab’s health.”

However, many within the party did not buy the PTI leader’s statement. There were misgivings within the party, and its former spokesperson Raoof Hasan said that the government had committed on Monday that it would allow Mr Khan’s personal physician, Dr Asim Yousaf, to examine him.

“We do not believe in Pims doctors because we have already filed a petition in Islamabad High Court (IHC) that they forged a report of Mr Khan some time ago. Unfortunately, Dr Asim Yousuf spent the entire day outside Adiala Jail, but he was not allowed to meet Mr Khan,” he said.

Mr Hasan said the planned Oct 15 protest was postponed on the understanding that Dr Yousuf would be allowed to meet Imran Khan, adding that the party would consider reviving its protest call in a meeting soon.

On the other hand, PTI leader Zulfi Bokhari also demanded an independent doctor to check Mr Khan’s medical condition. Speaking to Dawn, Mr Bokhari said reports that Mr Khan had been allowed to access a doctor were welcome as there are concerns about him having “severe headaches”.

Up until today he and other party members had received worrying “reports that that Mr Khan was on 24-hour lockdown, not being allowed for walks, not allowed to shower”, the PTI leader added.

He also said he was informed Mr Khan’s room was not being cleaned and that “inadequate food” was being provided to him. “We are worried about his health and safety and still want an independent doctor to visit him.”

‘Grave concerns’

On the other hand, Mr Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith issued a public appeal, urging the authorities to allow her sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, to re-establish contact with their imprisoned father.

In a statement shared on X, she expressed grave concerns over the conditions in which Imran Khan was being held, including the cessation of family visits, calls and reports of his isolation and mistreatment in jail.

In her statement, Ms Goldsmith revealed that since September 10, Imran’s weekly phone calls to his sons, who live in London, had been halted, despite a court order.

She claimed the authorities had placed Imran Khan in solitary confinement, allegedly turned off the electricity in his cell, and cut off all communication, leaving him in complete isolation.

She also highlighted the targeting of Imran Khan’s family, including the detention of his nephew Hassaan Niazi in military custody and the recent arrest of his sisters, Uzma and Aleema Khan.

She reiterated a call for their release, as well as the restoration of communication between Imran and his sons so that they could ensure his safety.

The statement was endorsed by British television presenter Piers Morgan and former MP George Galloway, both of whom raised concerns about Mr Khan’s health.

Responding to Ms Goldsmith’s tweet, Defence Minister and PML-N leader Khawaja Asif wrote that Imran Khan “has consistently been extended far more humanity than he ever exhibited for his opponents. Mian Nawaz Sharif was not allowed so much as a phone call to talk with his dying wife, to say nothing of the scores of other opposition members jailed — without charges — at the time.”

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024