‘Call for humane treatment’: Chappell, Gavaskar, Kapil urge proper medical care for Imran Khan

Former Australia captain Greg Chappell, backed by 20 other former international captains including India greats Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, has appealed to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to provide “humane treatment and proper medical care” to former Pakistan prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan.

According to a report by The Hindu, the former captains made the appeal in a letter after Pakistani authorities returned Khan to Adiala Jail following a brief stay at a state-run hospital, despite a Supreme Court order for him to be transferred to a private facility for examination.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

“Six months ago, fourteen former international cricket captains wrote to you and the Pakistani government appealing for humane treatment and proper medical care for Imran Khan,” the letter said. “We wrote then not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field -- one that transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries.”

The captains said they were writing again “because of what has reportedly just occurred”, adding that they had been joined by seven more former skippers.

Image

Pakistan’s Supreme Court had ordered Khan to be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan. The court also reinstated weekly family visits.

“These were very welcome steps,” the letter said.

“Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed, declared ‘medically fit’, and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work. His family and legal team say this falls short of what the Court ordered.”

The former captains said they did not intend to interfere in Pakistan’s domestic legal processes but called for three measures: that the Supreme Court-directed medical board, including Khan’s own doctors, be allowed to complete a full and independent assessment, particularly regarding his reported loss of vision in his right eye; that the reinstated weekly family visits be honoured without interruption or administrative delay; and that any treatment recommended following the medical assessment be provided without delay.

“Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody,” the letter said. “Whatever the legal and political arguments surrounding his case, the basic decency of ensuring a court-ordered medical process is actually completed is not, in our view, a controversial request.”

“It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair.”

Image

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party filed a contempt petition against the government on Saturday after authorities took him to a state-run hospital instead of the private facility ordered by the top court, party officials said.

Khan, who remains highly popular in Pakistan, has been imprisoned since August 2023 on charges he says are politically motivated following a fallout with the country’s powerful military that led to his removal from office.

His arrest sparked nationwide protests, including the storming of military installations. The perception that he was forcibly returned to jail could potentially reignite such demonstrations.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench on Tuesday directed the government to transfer Khan from Adiala Jail to private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days for a medical examination.

Instead, officials took Khan to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) overnight on Friday for a brief check-up before returning him to jail. He was not given access to his personal physician, which PTI also considers a breach of the court order.

PTI interprets the order as requiring Khan to remain under medical supervision until at least mid-September.

The former captains concluded their letter by urging the matter to be resolved “expeditiously and with the dignity Mr Imran Khan deserves.”