\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2026\/02\/14103551f62ba5f.webp\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that further medical treatment of PTI founder Imran Khan would be carried out by eye specialists at a specialised medical institution, while the opposition continued its sit-in at Parliament House over concerns regarding the ex-premier\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, he said, \u201cPursuant to ongoing eye treatment of Imran Khan, further checkup and treatment will be done in a specialised medical facility by the best eye specialists.<\/p>\n
\u201cA detailed report thereof will also be submitted to the Supreme Court. Conjecture, speculations and efforts to turn this into political rhetoric and mileage for vested interests may please be avoided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The remarks came as parliamentarians from opposition parties, under the banners of PTI and Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), continued their sit-in at Parliament House and KP House in Islamabad on Saturday for a second day, demanding that PTI founder Imran Khan be immediately moved to a hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n The sit-in was announced <\/a>after the Supreme Court (SC) was informed<\/u><\/a> on Thursday that Imran\u2019s right eye had only 15 per cent vision remaining, prompting a strong response from the party.<\/p>\n The sit-in started after Friday prayers and continued overnight. Participants in the sit-in are demanding that PTI founder Imran Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital.<\/p>\n The protest is being led by TTAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai and other prominent leaders, including PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Senator Ali Zafar, Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar, and others.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said on Saturday that Parliament House had been turned into a \u201cprison\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been inside Parliament since yesterday. We wanted to go outside but all the gates were closed,\u201d he said in a video posted by TTAP on X.<\/p>\n \u201cParliament and its premises have been turned into a prison; it is condemnable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not armed. We are standing here with nothing but our ethics and the strength of the truth,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The Senate opposition leader noted that Imran, like other prisoners, had rights and that \u201c90 per cent\u201d of Pakistanis \u2014 both here and abroad \u2014 were expressing concerns over the PTI founder\u2019s health.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In a post on X, PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja said the Parliament House, Parliament Lodges, and the KP House \u201chad been turned into a jail\u201d.<\/p>\n Demanding that they \u201cbe set free\u201d, the senior PTI leader alleged that the state was \u201cterrified\u201d of them taking to the streets.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in an earlier post on X that the sit-in had entered its second day, adding that the opposition leaders were \u201ctrapped\u201d inside Parliament House.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also remained inside Parliament House the entire night,\u201d he said, adding that the PTI and TTAP leadership was \u201cexhausted from hunger\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe police did not allow dinner at night and now breakfast in the morning to be taken inside,\u201d Akram claimed.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai told Dawn<\/em> that the sit-in was continuing at both locations. He said it was unfortunate that even breakfast was not being allowed inside Parliament and added that no one was being allowed to enter the premises.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the other hand, those who are in Parliament are not being allowed to come out. The sit-in will continue until TTAP\u2019s demand is accepted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to Yousafzai, PTI Senator Falak Naz Chitrali was feeling unwell since last night.<\/p>\n Yousafzai, criticising the government for not contacting the protesters, said TTAP Vice Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas was also attending the sit-in.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n PTI leader Shandana Gulzar, speaking to the media, said it was unfortunate that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi gave four days to have Imran examined by a team of doctors.<\/p>\n She questioned whether the same time frame would have been given if it were the chief justice\u2019s daughter or Nawaz Sharif. \u201cThe Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister is staging a sit-in at KP House and protesting against the government\u2019s unjust behaviour. We are demanding that Imran Khan be shifted to Shifa International Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n She alleged that the government was waiting for further damage to Imran\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n Gulzar further said that the police had manhandled the parliamentarians and other leaders of the opposition.<\/p>\n Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) spokesperson Aslam Ghauri, in a statement, condemned the \u201cviolence\u201d against the TTAP protest outside Parliament.<\/p>\n \u201cRespected members of Parliament and provincial assemblies were dragged,\u201d he said, adding that those who had \u201ctrapped the protesters inside Parliament call themselves democratic\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking a mockery of democracy, playing around with the Constitution and going against Islam are the actions of this government,\u201d he alleged, quipping that the \u201cfake forced government had gone mad in the fire of revenge\u201d.<\/p>\n The JUI-F leader demanded that all detained leaders be immediately released.<\/p>\n He blamed the government\u2019s attitude for the anarchy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. \u201cDo the rulers want to spread this anarchy across the country?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, flanked by former Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Awaam Pakistan spokesperson Dr Zafar Mirza, warned the government to take steps before things got out of hand.<\/p>\n They said that the government should not escalate the situation and eliminate political space for the opposition. They warned the government that it would not remain in power forever and urged it to go for dialogue and give respect to democratic principles.<\/p>\n They also demanded that Imran be immediately transferred to a hospital for medical treatment and that his family be granted access to him. They stated that the protest would continue until these demands were fulfilled.<\/p>\n Khokhar also stated that he was prevented from taking food inside Parliament on Saturday morning and called the situation unjust. He also said that opposition leaders inside Parliament House were confined and roads leading to Parliament Lodges and KP House were blocked.<\/p>\n Ahmad, meanwhile, demanded that Imran be provided medical treatment immediately. He claimed that direct responsibility for the situation was on the shoulders of the federal government.<\/p>\n The Parliamentary Reporters Association Pakistan (PRAP) strongly condemned the \u201cobstacles, mistreatment, and rude behaviour faced by journalists\u201d while covering the ongoing sit-in at the Parliament House, and demanded that \u201call journalists be immediately allowed full access\u201d to the premises.<\/p>\n A joint statement issued by PRAP President M.B. Soomro, PRAP Secretary Naveed Akbar, and other office-bearers said the opposition had been staging a sit-in at Parliament House since yesterday, in which the leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly (NA) and Senate, senators, and members of the NA are participating.<\/p>\n \u201cCovering such an important political process is the professional responsibility of journalists, and preventing them from doing so is a blatant violation of the principles of press freedom,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n According to the statement, \u201cAfter covering the sit-in late last night, when Soomro, senior journalist Akram Abid, and other reporters reached the entrance of the Parliament House this morning, security personnel stopped them and pushed them away.<\/p>\n \u201cAn attempt was also made to forcibly put Abid into a police van,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The association expressed serious concern over the incident and said, \u201cPreventing journalists from entering a national institution such as the Parliament House amounts to depriving them of their constitutional and professional rights. Turning the Parliament into a fortress and preventing the media from coverage reflects an undemocratic and authoritarian attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n It further said: \u201cIf the media is prevented from performing its duties, the timely and accurate dissemination of information to the public will be affected, which is harmful to any democratic society.\u201d<\/p>\n The association demanded that \u201call journalists be immediately allowed unhindered access to the Parliament House and that effective measures be taken to prevent such incidents in the future\u201d.<\/p>\n The PRAP strongly condemned the \u201cinappropriate and undemocratic conduct\u201d and reaffirmed its commitment that \u201cno restrictions on journalists\u2019 professional rights, press freedom, and responsible reporting will be accepted\u201d.<\/p>\n Separately, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi urged protesters in other locations across the country to remain peaceful.<\/p>\n \u201cImran Khan sahib<\/em>\u2019s health is more important to me than politics. I will neither engage in politics myself over his health nor allow anyone else to do so,\u201d he affirmed on X.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n He stressed: \u201cAt this time, those workers who have stepped up on their own without any official call \u2014 wherever you are, stay peaceful, and nearby workers, support them. All of you must remain peaceful going forward as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThose opposing Imran Khan sahib<\/em>, who have subjected him to medical terrorism, are capable of going to any extremes. They will include their own provocative elements amongst us to divert our peaceful protest in another direction and target us.\u201d<\/p>\n The KP CM urged protesters to keep an eye on \u201call provocative individuals and continue the peaceful protest\u201d. \u201cDo not believe any negative or false propaganda unless it is verified by Imran Khan sahib<\/em>\u2019s family and party,\u201d Afridi added.<\/p>\n \u201cA mockery has been made out of his health, which is unforgivable. Right now, his best possible treatment is our top priority,\u201d the chief minister emphasised.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Earlier on Saturday, Imran\u2019s sister Aleema Khanum criticised the Supreme Court for its alleged inaction to ensure its directives<\/a> are implemented by the government.<\/p>\n In a post on X, she recalled that lawyers waited \u201call day on Thursday the 12th and all day Friday the 13th for written court orders\u201d from the SC.<\/p>\n \u201cThe order should have been for Imran Khan to be shifted to Shifa International Hospital. Emergency orders for his immediate examination and treatment by specialist doctors under supervision of his personal doctors,\u201d she asserted.<\/p>\n Citing information given to their lawyers, she claimed that CJP Afridi had left on an urgent tour to Punjab to \u201cwatch the jeep rally in Cholistan\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe urgent and pressing matter for our CJP (taking precedence over the extreme urgency to save Imran Khan\u2019s eyesight in his right eye), we are told, is to watch the jeep rally in Cholistan. Ofcourse this could be totally fabricated information!\u201d Aleema said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>Govt told to not escalate situation<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Reporters decry mistreatment<\/h2>\n
<\/a>KP CM urges voluntary protesters to remain peaceful<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>SC still has not provided written orders: Aleema<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n