LAHORE: Incarcerated prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday rejected his family’s request to shift to a hospital, saying the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had humiliated him by getting him repeatedly examined by various medical boards instead of providing proper treatment.
Nawaz said that he would not accept the government’s disdainful behaviour of pushing him around in the name of medical treatment from one irrelevant hospital to another. He said that he would prefer an honourable death over government’s “dishonourable” tactics.
This was shared by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif after he met his brother at the Kot Lakhpat Jail.
Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif’s mother and other family members also met the former prime minister on Wednesday. They said that because of the derogatory behaviour of the government, Nawaz had refused to go to any hospital despite suffering from a serious medical condition.
Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz said that the government should provide Nawaz with his legal right to appropriate medical treatment instead of waiting for a disaster.
Hamza said that Nawaz’s medical condition is alarming and should not be ignored at any cost.
He said that Nawaz’s family tried their best to convince him to go to the hospital but the government’s inhumane tactics had offended him to an extent that he had decided to plead his case to God Almighty instead of bowing down to the government.
Nawaz’s daughter Maryam earlier tweeted that she was on her way to Kot Lakhpat jail to meet her father and expressed hope that he would agree to be shifted to the hospital.
“On my way to Kotlakhpat jail to see MNS. I hope he agrees to shift to the hospital. My grandmother also accompanying me. Maybe she can prevail bcoz MNS has never said no to her. Thank you everyone for your unflinching love, support & prayers. Will keep you updated, Insha’Allah,” she wrote.
On my way to Kotlakhpat jail to see MNS. I hope he agrees to shift to the hospital. My grandmother also accompanying me. May be she can prevail bcoz MNS has never said no to her. Thank you everyone for your unflinching love, support & prayers. Will keep you updated, Insha’Allah.
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) March 6, 2019
On Tuesday, Maryam had shared that Nawaz’s condition was life-threatening and that he had had four angina attacks in the last week.
Her father had not been offered any treatment even when he was taken to the hospital and kept there for days, she had revealed.
Also on Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said that the PTI government is committing a crime by denying medical treatment to his elder brother Nawaz
In a statement, Shehbaz said making an ill person the subject of political vendetta was unethical and the government’s refusal to accept the medical board’s opinion on his brother’s health reflected its bad intentions and moral decline.
“Ministers can go abroad despite being on the Exit Control List (ECL), but a man who made Pakistan a nuclear power is not allowed to go to the hospital,” the PML-N president protested.
Shehbaz demanded that the government shift the former prime minister to a medical facility which treats patients with heart diseases.