RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: After receiving treatment at the cardiac centre of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for two days, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif was taken back to Adiala jail on Tuesday evening amid tight security.

“He has been shifted from the hospital and our responsibility is finished. However, the medical board set up to treat Mr Sharif has been reconstituted, because the head of the board, Dr Ejaz Qadeer, was hospitalised due to cardiac blockage. Dr Qadeer has now been replaced with Dr Zulfiqar Ghouri,” Pims Executive Director Dr Raja Amjad told Dawn.

The five-member medical board is being chaired by Professor of General Medicine Dr Shajee Ahmed Siddiqui, and comprises Cardiologist Dr Muhammad Naeem Malik, Nephrologist Dr Sohail Tanveer, Gastroenterologist Dr Mashood Ali and Deputy Executive Director Dr Zulfiqar Ghouri.

Ousted PM insisted he be moved from Pims to prison

A doctor of the hospital, requesting anonymity, said that on Sunday night Mr Sharif’s ECG results were not normal, so they had decided to shift him from Adiala jail to Pims.

The room he was kept in was located on the second floor of the cardiac centre and declared a sub-jail. A large number of security officials were deputed there, which inconvenienced several other patients and their attendants.

“However, after spending two days at the hospital, Mr Sharif started feeling better and most of the results of blood tests conducted were also normal, so the decision was taken to send him back. We were told that Mr Sharif would be sent to Adiala jail. However, it is a fact that, since his arrival at Pims, Mr Sharif has been continuously demanding that he be sent back to Adiala jail,” he said.

The roads leading to Adiala jail were lined with law enforcement personnel. The district administration and local police had made special arrangements to transfer the former premier from the hospital to prison. Rawalpindi police, Elite Force commandos and personnel of other LEAs surrounded Mr Sharif’s convoy as soon as it entered Rawalpindi from Koral Chowk.

“The decision [to move Mr Sharif back to Adiala jail] was conveyed to the jail administration and local administration in the evening... [They were told] that Mr Sharif’s medical reports were satisfactory and he could be shifted at any time. However, he was moved from the hospital after Maghrib prayers,” a senior official of the district administration said.

“Soon after arriving at the jail, Maryam Nawaz and retired Capt Muhammad Safdar met him. They had made several requests to the jail administration to allow them to see him,” an official of Adiala jail said.

He shared that before Mr Sharif’s arrival at the jail, the prison’s administration had made special arrangements to provide the ailing former prime minister a comfortable environment so that he would not suffer from tension.

He said special instructions in this regard were issued to the caretaker government from the President House, requesting that he be provided healthcare and a better environment.

He said jail doctors had been instructed to monitor Mr Sharif’s health and to check his blood pressure and sugar levels, while taking all necessary safety measures. He said the water and meals to be provided to the former prime minister would be prepared and served under the guidance of doctors.

The prison administration has also sought help from the Punjab home department to help them decide the hundreds of applications they have received from people who want to visit the former premier on Thursday, the day fixed for meetings with Mr Sharif and his daughter. The jail administration will allow people to meet him after obtaining permission from the home department and the caretaker Punjab government.

There have been reports that President Mamnoon Hussain had wanted to meet the former premier but was not allowed to do so due to security reasons.

When contacted, Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq told Dawn that party leaders were worried about Mr Sharif’s health and would meet him on Thursday.

About the president’s wish to meet Mr Sharif, he said he had learned that the president’s request to meet the former premier had been turned down, and added that there was a procedure those who wanted to meet him had to follow.

To a query about this, a senior official of the Punjab said the president could not be stopped from meeting the former PM at the hospital or at the jail. “A president is the head of state and he can visit any part of country without permission. A governor, who is the head of a province, can also visit any jail hospital or other places without seeking permission,” he said.

He said that KP and Punjab governors had met the former prime minister in jail last week, if the president wanted to meet Mr Sharif, nobody could stop him. He said many people had submitted requests with the jail administration, and added that it would be difficult for the administration to accommodate all of them.

However, he said that Mr Sharif would also be consulted before the jail administration gave formal permission to those who wanted to meet him.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo was taken to Adiala jail after he arrived in the country on July 13. After a week, the head of Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) retired Major General Dr Azhar Mehmood Kiyani suggested that he should be moved to the RIC because he suffered from severe heart problems.

However, rather than shifting the patient to the hospital, the administration had decided to constitute a medical board so they could give a second opinion. The team visited Adiala jail for a week and issued a report stating that Mr Sharif was fine and there was no reason for him to be taken to a hospital. However, on July 29, the former prime minister was suddenly shifted to Pims.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2018