Imran Khan Health Row: PTI Says Blood Pressure Hit 192 and Demands Hospital Transfer
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) says jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s blood pressure rose to 192 and has demanded his immediate transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for treatment by his personal doctors.
The claim, made by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Wednesday, has set off a fresh row over Khan’s health and his access to medical care in Adiala Jail, where the 73-year-old has been held since his arrest in 2023. But the figure has not been independently verified, and accounts of the jail meeting at the centre of the claim differ sharply.
Conflicting accounts of the same meeting
PTI says the reading followed a November 2 meeting at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi between Khan and his lawyer, Salman Safdar — the first such meeting since April, according to PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. Khan’s sister Rubina Khan and his son Kasim Khan shared the same warning, saying his life was under threat in jail.
Safdar himself, however, said he was not the source of the alarming health reports and described his role as limited to legal duties. Multiple people familiar with the meeting said Khan mentioned a reading near 190 but looked generally fit, leaving a disputed picture of how serious the episode was. The government has not published its own medical account of the reported incident.
A court order the family says was ignored
Khan’s family says a Supreme Court order from 18 August requiring treatment at Shifa International Hospital has not been carried out, and that permission from the Islamabad High Court for twice-weekly visits has not eased the limits on access to Khan.
In August, Khan was instead taken to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for examination and returned to his cell. His sister, who is a doctor, checked his blood pressure herself that day and said he was “completely healthy and fit” at 120/80.
The family and the party want Khan treated by his own doctors at Shifa. The state has so far offered its own hospital instead, and no verified medical statement has been published by either side.
What the courts are being asked to do
The Islamabad High Court was due on Thursday, 5 November, to hear a petition by members of the National Dialogue Committee seeking permission to meet Khan at Adiala Jail. Separately, the court has fixed 10 November for the appeals of Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the £190 million case.
PTI also raised Khan’s health at a meeting of opposition leaders on Wednesday, where parties agreed to hold an all-parties conference within 10 days. Raja told the gathering that Khan’s blood pressure was not under control and that the party wanted him treated by his own doctors at Shifa.
Why the dispute matters beyond Pakistan
Khan remains Pakistan’s most prominent opposition figure, and his treatment in custody is watched closely by rights groups and foreign governments. His party says the health scare shows why access to his own doctors matters; the government has yet to respond with its own account.
It is not the only case of a prominent opposition figure facing a long prison term this week: a Hong Kong court sentenced activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison under the national security law on Thursday. And political upheaval is not confined to Pakistan: Paraguay’s president resigned the same day after a bank collapse froze millions of accounts.
For now, the central facts are contested. The party and the family say a reading of 192 demands urgent hospital care; the lawyer who met Khan has distanced himself from the claim; and others present describe a man who appeared generally fit. Until the government or a hospital publishes a verified medical statement, the row is likely to deepen — and the court hearings in the coming days will be watched for any ruling on Khan’s care.
