Aleema Khan has said former prime minister Imran Khan’s health is worsening in custody, reviving a dispute that has been simmering for months over his medical treatment, prison conditions and access to independent doctors. Her latest claims build on earlier statements from the family and legal team, who have focused especially on Khan’s right eye and broader concerns about whether treatment has been timely and transparent.
The health issue has not stayed in the realm of political rhetoric alone. In February, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that a medical panel examine Khan after a report submitted in court said he had lost around 85% of vision in his right eye, with the court directing that the examination be carried out before February 16. That intervention gave the matter a formal legal dimension and suggested the concerns were serious enough to require judicial oversight.
Aleema Khan and other family members have continued to insist that the PTI founder is not receiving adequate care. In media appearances earlier this year, she said his right eye remained heavily affected and questioned both the government’s handling of the case and, at times, PTI’s own internal response. The family’s line has been blunt: they do not trust official assurances on his condition and want credible, independent medical access.
The government, though, has pushed back just as forcefully. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has accused Aleema Khan of politicising the issue and even alleged that her objections delayed parts of the medical process. Official and pro-government accounts have said doctors examined Khan, briefed political leaders, and found no major complication warranting the alarm raised by his family and party.
That has left two competing narratives side by side. On one hand, PTI, Khan’s lawyers and relatives say the former premier’s health is deteriorating and that delayed care may already have caused lasting damage. On the other, the government says treatment has been provided and that the opposition is trying to turn a medical matter into a political campaign. Even after the court-ordered medical scrutiny, the disagreement has not really gone away.
For now, the hardest fact in the middle of the noise is this: concerns over Imran Khan’s eyesight became serious enough to reach Pakistan’s top court, and the family is still publicly disputing the official version of his recovery. That keeps the story alive not just as a health update, but as another flashpoint in the long-running confrontation between PTI and the state.
