Tensions in Pakistan reached a boiling point this week as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) categorically rejected a “behind-closed-doors” medical examination of its incarcerated founder, Imran Khan. Following a Supreme Court directive, a five-member medical board visited Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail on Sunday, February 15, 2026, to assess the 73-year-old leader’s health after his lawyer reported a catastrophic 85% loss of vision in his right eye. The court-appointed amicus curiae, Salman Safdar, revealed that Khan—who had perfect 6×6 vision as recently as October 2025—is now left with only 15% eyesight due to a retinal blood clot and months of alleged medical neglect. While the government claims the check-up is part of a humanitarian plan to transfer Khan to a specialized facility, the PTI has branded the process “malicious” and “stage-managed,” citing the exclusion of Khan’s personal physicians, Dr. Faisal Sultan and Dr. Aasim Yusuf, and his family members from the examination.
The controversy deepened as Khan’s sister, Noreen Khanum, reported the arrival of an ambulance at the jail on Sunday afternoon, which she viewed not as a gesture of care but as an attempt to move the former Prime Minister to an undisclosed location without oversight. PTI leadership has argued that a prison environment is “medically implausible” for treating a condition as serious as Central Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO) and has demanded Khan’s immediate transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad. Meanwhile, an opposition alliance continues a massive sit-in outside Parliament House, accusing the administration of using “cosmetic measures” to mask the effects of over 900 days of solitary confinement. As the Supreme Court’s February 16 deadline for a comprehensive report looms, the standoff remains a volatile focal point, with Khan’s family vowing to reject any “manufactured” health results produced without the supervision of their trusted specialists.
