PTI presses for urgent treatment of Imran, Ejaz Chaudhry

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday intensified its public campaign over the health of its detained leadership, saying former prime minister Imran Khan and jailed senator Ejaz Chaudhry both require urgent, transparent and specialist medical attention. The issue surfaced through a party statement and follow-up comments from legal representatives, placing prison healthcare and detainee rights back at the center of Pakistan’s political debate.

The party said Imran Khan’s condition had become increasingly concerning because of prolonged detention, restricted access to treatment and what it described as insufficient transparency around medical examinations. PTI claimed that his eyesight had deteriorated and argued that evaluations carried out without trusted physicians or family members present did not meet acceptable standards of credibility or patient protection. The demand was not limited to a routine prison check-up; the party called for a full and independently trusted medical assessment.

According to the position outlined by PTI, Imran should be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for a thorough review of his eye condition and overall health. The party also asked that his personal doctors, including Dr Faisal Sultan and Dr Asim Yousaf, be allowed to examine and treat him without outside interference. In addition, it sought the release of detailed medical records, including retinal imaging and other diagnostic reports, so that any findings could be reviewed independently rather than remaining confined to an opaque prison process.

The sharper concern in the party’s statement related to Ejaz Chaudhry, whose case was presented as more medically urgent. PTI said doctors had indicated that treatment for the 69-year-old leader was not realistically possible inside jail and demanded his immediate transfer to a properly equipped hospital. The party framed that demand as a matter of basic rights and humane treatment rather than a plea for preferential treatment, arguing that the state has a legal and moral obligation to provide timely care to detainees whose health is worsening.

That argument was reinforced by comments from Chaudhry’s family and counsel. His son, Advocate Ali Chaudhry, said efforts were continuing through legal and administrative channels to secure a complete hospital-based examination and clarified that his father had not yet been shifted out of jail. His lawyer, Rana Mudassar Umer, said delayed treatment for heart complications had already caused serious harm, that Chaudhry had undergone a stent procedure, and that his condition later became more complicated with kidney and gallbladder problems. Fresh reports, according to the legal team, now indicate stage three kidney disease.

The developments matter beyond the fate of two individuals because they touch a long-running question in Pakistan’s justice and prison systems: how medical access is handled when a high-profile detainee’s health becomes politically contentious. Opposition parties routinely argue that prison health decisions are vulnerable to manipulation, while governments and jail administrations are often accused of acting too slowly or releasing too little information. In such cases, the absence of trusted independent medical verification can quickly turn a health dispute into a national political confrontation.

There is also a broader political backdrop to the PTI statement. Ejaz Chaudhry is among the party figures serving a 10-year sentence linked to the May 9, 2023 riots, while Imran Khan remains the central figure in PTI’s efforts to rally supporters around claims of political victimisation and legal unfairness. By foregrounding health concerns, the party is widening its message from courtroom battles and electoral complaints to humanitarian treatment, attempting to build pressure on both the authorities and the wider public.

PTI further tied the issue to its wider criticism of the government, saying the country is already under stress from inflation, rising electricity and gas tariffs and economic uncertainty. That linkage suggests the party wants to frame the treatment of detainees not as an isolated prison matter but as part of a larger argument about governance, accountability and the state’s handling of vulnerable citizens. No immediate response from prison authorities or the federal government was cited in the report, leaving the PTI account uncontested in the latest round of public claims.

For Pakistan, the immediate impact of the controversy lies in its capacity to deepen political polarisation and trigger fresh legal action. Hospital transfer requests, demands for independent physicians, and calls for disclosure of full medical records may now move more forcefully into the courts and the public arena. The next phase will likely depend on whether authorities allow outside specialists to examine the detainees, whether medical documentation is made public in a credible form, and whether the health dispute remains a partisan flashpoint or becomes a broader test of detainee rights and state responsibility.