Australia’s Greg Chappell and India’s Sunil Gavaskar were among 21 former international cricket captains who renewed their appeal to Pakistan for adequate medical treatment of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
The group, that also included England’s longest-serving skippers Sir Alastair Cook and Australian great Ian Chappell, underlined that their bond with Khan transcended borders.
“Six months ago, fourteen former international cricket captains wrote to you and the Pakistani government appealing for humane treatment and proper medical care for Imran Khan. We wrote then not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field – one that transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries,” they said in a letter sent to Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office on Sunday.
The cricketers said they were reissuing their appeal in the wake of Khan’s hasty visit to a hospital last week which lasted only a few hours.
Pakistan’s government rejected allegations of neglect over the weekend, saying Khan was examined by doctors and that he could not be taken to the private Shifa international hospital for security reasons. Khan was instead transferred from Adiala prison in Rawalpindi to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad early on Friday.
open image in galleryIn February, 14 former international cricketers expressed their concern over Khan’s health after his family said he had lost about 85 per cent of vision in his right eye, a claim disputed by the government.
Even though the authorities say the former prime minister’s health is improving, it is not verified by international experts who can confirm that his stay in the prison has not damaged his health.
His sister Uzma Khan, who was present during the examination, confirmed that Khan was stable and fit, but she added that the ex-prime minister repeatedly said he was being tortured in prison.
The 73-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was slapped with dozens of cases related to alleged corruption, sale of state gifts, and unlawful marriage. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party denounce these cases as politically motivated.
open image in galleryAlthough several of his convictions have been suspended or overturned, he remains incarcerated pending trial in some cases and appeals in others.
Khan’s family members and leaders of his party have accused authorities of damaging his health by denying him adequate medical care.
The government has rejected these accusations as unfounded.
“Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the court had directed, declared ‘medically fit,’ and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work. His family and legal team say this falls short of what the Court ordered,” the cricketers said.
“We do not presume to adjudicate Pakistan’s domestic legal processes. That is not our place, and it was not the spirit in which we wrote in February,” they said.
open image in galleryThe cricketers said a medical board, directed by the Supreme Court, and including Khan’s own doctors, should be allowed to “complete a full and independent assessment of his health, particularly the reported loss of vision in his right eye”.
open image in galleryKhan, they said, should be allowed weekly family visits without any interruption or administrative delay.
Underlining their biggest concern, the cricketers said Khan should be given the recommended treatment after the outcome of medical assessment.
“Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody. Whatever the legal and political arguments surrounding his case, the basic decency of ensuring a court–ordered medical process is actually completed is not, in our view, a controversial request,” they said.
The appeal letter has been undersigned by England’s Michael Atherton, Michael Brearley, Nasser Hussain, Andrew Strauss and David Gower, India’s Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar, and Australia’s Belinda Clark, Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh and Kim Hughes.
“It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair,” they said.
Khan’s lawyers and family have accused the Sharif government of defying a court order that required him to be examined at the private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.