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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. File photo
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in good health after undergoing a medical procedure for an eye ailment at a government hospital, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Thursday.
Mr. Khan was examined by a team of doctors at Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison, where he is serving multiple prison sentences, before being taken to a government hospital on Saturday, where he underwent a 20-minute medical procedure with his consent.
“He is in good health,” Mr. Tarar told a private news channel.
Suffered for a while
The comments came after Mr. Khan’s Opposition party spokesperson Zulfiquar Bukhari said earlier this week that the former premier was suffering from an eye condition and required “immediate medical attention”.
Mr. Bukhari had called for Mr. Khan’s personal physician to be granted access, warning that any further delay could result in “irreversible harm”.
Mr. Tarar’s remarks followed days of speculation on social media that Mr. Khan had been taken to a hospital under heavy security over the weekend and returned to jail the same night. Mr. Khan has not been seen in public since his arrest in 2023 in a corruption case.
‘Very worrying’
In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Bukhari said the Minister’s remarks were “very worrying” and described the handling of the health issue as “opaque and alarming”.
Mr. Khan’s family nor his legal team were informed before or after he was taken from prison for medical treatment, Mr. Bukhari said, adding that authorities had provided no verifiable details about his condition, the treatment administered or the doctors involved.
Mr. Bukhari said the government’s attempt to portray the eye condition as a routine medical matter raised “more questions than answers”. He expressed serious concerns about Mr. Khan’s health and demanded immediate access for his family and personal physicians, as well as full disclosure of the medical procedure and Mr. Khan’s current condition.
He urged human rights organisations to monitor the situation, saying the treatment of a former elected Prime Minister in custody reflected broader concerns about the rule of law, prisoners’ rights and due process in Pakistan.
After Mr. Khan’s arrest in 2023, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, initially launched a campaign demanding his release, but the effort later subsided. Authorities recently restricted meetings between Mr. Khan and his family after relatives publicly conveyed political messages urging supporters to stage rallies against the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Mr. Khan has also used social media posts to criticise the military and Mr. Sharif for his removal from office in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. He has alleged that his ouster was the result of a U.S.-backed conspiracy carried out with the support of Mr. Sharif and Pakistan’s powerful military — claims denied by Washington, the military and his political opponents.
Mr. Khan’s party remains in Opposition in Parliament and he continues to command significant popular support across the country.
Published – January 29, 2026 04:19 pm IST
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Pakistan says imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan ’in good health’ after eye procedure
