Imran Khan has told his sister, Dr. Uzma Khan, to direct Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to ramp up his movement, she announced at a press conference on Friday.
Addressing media alongside her sister Noreen Niazi, as well as Khan’s personal physician Dr. Faisal Sultan, and Afridi, Dr. Uzma outlined the circumstances of her brother’s treatment at PIMS, as confirmed by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
According to Dr. Uzma, she and Dr. Sultan were called to Adiala Jail, which they reached around 8 p.m. After reaching, she said, they were made to wait for several hours before an official directed Dr. Sultan to leave with them, leaving her alone. “After some time, I was taken to a car and driven behind a police vehicle,” she said, adding that when she inquired if they were going to Shifa International Hospital, she was told they were going to PIMS for some examinations related to the former prime minister’s eye ailment.
“When I reached PIMS, it was completely dark and someone led me with a torch to an office where Khan was waiting,” she said, adding there were several doctors around though she did not know their identities. “They conducted his eye examination in my presence and said a procedure needed to be done,” she said, noting she had said they could have it done at Shifa International when they reached there.
“I told Khan he was going to go to Shifa under Supreme Court orders and he seemed very pleased about it,” she said.
Dr. Uzma said the two siblings talked while they were waiting for various procedures and tests. During their conversation, she said, Khan told her he was being “tortured” and “mistreated” in prison and his wife, Bushra, was likewise mistreated. She said Khan had said he kept complaining about various health concerns but no one paid any heed. He said he had complained of palpitations and headaches in July and had only been told by a doctor on Aug. 10 that he was suffering from severe anxiety that had elevated his blood pressure due to his prolonged solitary confinement.
“He kept telling me to tell the public he is being tortured,” she said, adding she had assured him that no one who did anything to him would be spared. She said she had repeatedly told police they were committing contempt by not taking Khan to Shifa International, but to no avail.
According to Dr. Uzma, after the tests were done, both siblings were placed in different vehicles and brought back to Adiala Jail. She claimed the doctors had not conducted any blood tests and had only taken his blood pressure and treated him for his eye ailment.
Taking the mic, Dr. Sultan confirmed he did not meet Khan. He said he was taken to Shifa International and kept waiting there for several hours, with assurances Khan would soon reach the facility. However, he said, this did not happen and eventually they told me it appeared he would not be coming and took me back to Adiala, where I met Dr. Uzma.
Responding to questions from journalists, Dr. Uzma said Khan had told her he feared he was being isolated and put under pressure so he could end up the same way as Egypt’s Mohamed Morsi. She said he had said he had no access to newspapers or TV and the facility.
To another question, Dr. Uzma said Khan’s was “perfectly fit,” health wise. She said his blood pressure was 120/80, while his vision had significantly improved.
C.M. Afridi, meanwhile, slammed the government and authorities for failing to implement the Supreme Court’s order. He said it was time for judges to decide if they were going to allow their orders to be so willfully violated. He also vowed to file contempt proceedings against the government, adding he would ramp up his movement on Khan’s orders and would soon commence a tour of the entire Pakistan to muster support ahead of the planned Sept. 27 long march on Islamabad.