Conflicting accounts in the Senate

Islamabad became the centre of a sharp Senate exchange this week over the health of Noreen Niazi, a sister of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, after she was moved from prison to a heart hospital in Lahore. The government told the Senate she was well after treatment, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) pressed for her immediate release and rejected speculation about any deal for Khan's freedom.

PTI parliamentary leader Barrister Ali Zafar told the Senate that Noreen Niazi had suffered a heart attack. Prime Minister's adviser Rana Sanaullah gave a different account, saying she had been moved for high blood pressure, had received immediate care, and that her medical test results were normal. Her lawyer, Rana Mudassar Umer, said jail doctors recommended the transfer from Kot Lakhpat jail to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, where she arrived on Wednesday evening for tests. No official medical bulletin had been published at the time of reporting, so the precise diagnosis remains unconfirmed and the two accounts should not be presented as settled fact.

Detention background

Noreen Niazi, reported to be 70, has been detained with Khan's other sisters, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, since 21 September under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, on the orders of the Lahore deputy commissioner. Their detention was extended on 7 October for a second 30-day term.

PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan called for all three sisters to be released and said imprisoning non-political women was increasing bitterness.

What remains unconfirmed

PTI has said the family was not informed promptly about her condition and has alleged that medicines were denied in detention. A senior jail officer disputed that account, telling Dawn that inmates receive daily-use items and medicines.

The Senate exchange therefore leaves two unresolved questions: Noreen Niazi's confirmed medical condition, and whether her detention will be reviewed before the current term runs into early November.

Sources: Dawn