ISLAMABAD: Twenty-one former international cricket captains have urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to ensure medical treatment for Imran Khan follows the process directed by the Supreme Court. They made this request after his brief hospital examination.
In an August 23 letter, the former captains said Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. A state-appointed team examined him before authorities returned him to Adiala Jail. However, they said the process fell short of the court-directed medical assessment.
The Supreme Court on August 18 directed authorities to shift the jailed former prime minister to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for examination and treatment by a multidisciplinary medical board. Moreover, the court also allowed his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, and his personal physician, Dr Faisal Sultan, to remain involved in his medical care.
Khan was instead taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. There, doctors examined him before he was returned to Adiala Jail. Subsequently, the development prompted further objections from his family. They raised concerns over compliance with the court’s directions.
The former captains asked authorities to allow the medical assessment to be completed with Khan’s own doctors involved, particularly over reported loss of vision in his right eye. Furthermore, they also sought uninterrupted weekly family visits and immediate provision of any treatment recommended by the medical assessment.
The letter marked their second appeal to Sharif in six months. Fourteen former captains had written in February over concerns about Khan’s health. Signatories to the latest appeal include Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, David Gower, Clive Lloyd, Arjuna Ranatunga, Steve Waugh and John Wright.
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The signatories said they were writing as former colleagues and rivals rather than politicians. They clarified that they were not seeking to adjudicate Pakistan’s domestic legal process. Meanwhile, the government has rejected allegations of medical neglect. The government said Khan has received regular medical examinations and appropriate care in custody.
