Finally some sense has prevailed and Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed concern on the falling health of his predecessor Nawaz Sharif, who had to be hospitalised for treatment. The exact nature of his diseases is not yet fully reported but one thing is clear; that he is badly ill.
So is former President Asif Ali Zardari. He has been shifted to a hospital in Islamabad from Adiyala Jail, Rawalpindi. Pakistan People’s Party has demanded that he should not be removed from the hospital until his complete treatment.
PM Khan has allowed Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryum Nawaz to be with her father at this testing time. The PML-N has moved Islamabad High Court seeking bail of its leader on medical grounds.
Maryum Nawaz has been with her father through thick and thin. She got the shock of her life when her mother Begum Kalsum Nawaz died in hospital in London.
It, no doubt, is hard for her to be at the side of her father in hospital. But cruel jibes by the government functionaries and supporters echo what happened at the time when Begum Kalsoom Nawaz passed away.
One thing that the rulers may keep into consideration is the fact that they must not let the situation become bloody. The country cannot afford any more causalities. We already had killings or mysterious deaths of our leaders starting from Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah all the way to Benazir Bhutto.
What we are witnessing today is the worst form of political victimisation as almost all opponents of the government have been put behind bars for one reason or the other.
The case of former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah is a classic example of this witch-hunt. Reports of his ill-treatment in jail have long been making rounds in media.
Now the supporters of Nawaz Sharif have started organising public gatherings outside his hospital. It is going to build momentum for the Azadi March opposition parties have planned under the leadership of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Regardless of what happens to this march, the question remains that why health of political leaders was not taken care of while cases against them were pending trial. *