The former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has once again been at the centre of a political storm after his sister Dr Uzma Khan alleged that the jailed leader is being tortured and treated poorly while in jail. He was taken to a hospital from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail for a medical examination, in line with the Supreme Court's order, the family and supporters said.
Dr Uzma Khan told reporters after meeting her brother that the former prime minister told her that he was “repeatedly tortured” inside prison. She alleged that authorities had failed to perform basic medical tests, including blood tests, despite ongoing concerns about his health. Khan has been experiencing health problems with vision, she says, which need to be assessed more thoroughly than what was delivered during the brief hospital visit.
The controversy was reignited when Khan was admitted to the government-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) instead of the private Shifa International Hospital specified in a recent Supreme Court order. The court had ordered authorities to conduct a medical examination with Khan’s personal doctor. But government officials cited security issues as the reason for the change of venue and for the examination to take place at the state-run facility instead.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party strongly criticised the move and claimed the government violated the court’s orders. Party leaders said that the former prime minister should have gone under medical supervision for a longer period and had access to doctors of his choice. PTI are mulling legal action, including a contempt petition, over such an alleged failure to comply with the Supreme Court’s orders.
The Pakistani government has rejected the claim of torture, solitary confinement and medical negligence. Khan is a convicted prisoner who has been sentenced by the court, and all of his claims are not supported by the prison records or medical reports, state authorities said. Khan has been treated by medical professionals on numerous occasions in prison and is in good health, they said.
The health of Khan’s family and lawyers has been a concern for months. His eyesight and overall health had been a question mark in court proceedings, and his vision had suffered a major loss in one eye and needs special care. These concerns led Pakistan’s Supreme Court to order a new medical evaluation and to allow more family access.
Khan has been in jail since 2023 and is one of Pakistan’s most influential and polarising politicians. The government insists that the cases against him were politically driven and legal proceedings in Pakistan have taken place in the name of due process.
As the debate over Khan’s treatment intensifies, the question is whether Pakistan’s courts will intervene again and if independent medical assessments will be allowed. For now, contradictory claims from his family and government have meant the former prime minister’s health and prison conditions are still at the forefront of Pakistan’s political discourse.
