Lahore, February 17 Imran Khan, Pakistan's incarcerated former prime minister, has claimed that his family is enduring "unimaginable mistreatment" in prison under the direction of Field Marshal Asim Munir, as the country is under "illegitimate and un-Islamic rule".
Khan's lawyer, Salman Safdar, told the Supreme Court last week that the 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician had lost 85 per cent of his vision in his right eye while in prison.
His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has cut off Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from the rest of the country through road blockades, demanding that Khan be immediately transferred to a hospital and allowed to see his doctors.
Khan has been in prison since August 2023, facing multiple charges.
"Imran Khan, a global celebrity, a philanthropist, and former prime minister of Pakistan, has endured unimaginable mistreatment in prison under the direction of 'Asim Law,' now facing irreversible damage to his right eye as a direct consequence," Khan's sister, Noreen Niazi, said in a post on X, referring to Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Munir.
She said that Khan's medical complaints were ignored "excessively and unjustly" for three months while he was kept in "illegal solitary confinement".
"The poor conditions in the prison have severely impacted his health, leading to devastating effects on his eye, which has now been diagnosed as retinal vein occlusion. This is not mere negligence; it is deliberate cruelty, executed through a cunning and conniving plan by Gen Asim Munir."
"Under the vengeful instructions of Asim Munir, Imran Khan's due treatment is being handled in the poor conditions of the prison," she said.
Despite the Supreme Court's orders that Khan must be taken to a specialist eye hospital for treatment promptly, "that illegal regime has once again disregarded the ruling of the highest court of the land," she said.
Noreen added that, given the nature of Khan's eye condition, where he has already lost 85 per cent of his vision, proper treatment "simply isn't possible in a prison setting".
"Our sole constitutional and legal demand is that Imran Khan be immediately transferred to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for treatment under the supervision of his personal physicians," she demanded.
Noreen further criticised Field Marshal Munir for portraying himself as the leader of the Islamic world.
"You (Munir) declare yourself the chief of a Muslim armed forces, quoting Quranic verses in your speeches, but you refuse to abide by them. The nation is wide awake, and the whole world is watching this brutality and inhumane and despicable treatment of Imran Khan."
"This raises concerns about Imran Khan's legal rights; it rather underscores the gravity of lawlessness now prevalent in Pakistan under illegitimate and un-Islamic rule. It represents a profound trial of your beliefs, your command, and your impending judgment," Noreen said.
Meanwhile, Khan's close aide, Zulfi Bokhari, said that the former premier told his wife, Bushra Bibi, on Tuesday that he remains deeply concerned about his eye.
"His first and only priority is an immediate emergency meeting with his personal physicians – Dr. Faisal Sultan and Dr. Asim. Let's put politics aside for a moment and only focus on this one, extremely reasonable demand," Bokhari said.
Meanwhile, Indian cricket greats Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev joined a dozen other former international captains in signing a petition demanding better prison treatment for "one of the finest all-rounders" of the game, Imran Khan.
A team of doctors on Monday reported an improvement in Khan's eyesight as well as the condition of his eye after examining him.
Khan has been in prison since August 5, 2023, when he was arrested at his Lahore residence after his conviction in a corruption case. He is currently incarcerated at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
