Would 'prefer honorable death', Nawaz tells brother

PML-N supremo says will not let govt push him around in name of treatment from one irrelevant hospital to another

LAHORE: The Sharif family has failed to convince former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to shift to hospital from the Kot Lakhpat Jail for cardiac treatment amid speculation that his medical condition is life-threatening.

Nawaz Sharif, during a meeting with his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, said that he would prefer an honourable death instead of allowing the government to exploit his medical condition for petty gain.

He is said to have told his brother that he will not accept the PTI government’s ‘disdainful’ attempts to push him around in the name of medical treatment from one irrelevant hospital to another. This was shared by the PML-N President, Shehbaz Sharif, after he met his brother at the Kot Lakhpat prison, according to an official statement issued by the party.

In addition, Nawaz Sharif reportedly alleged that the government was practising political victimization in the name of medical treatment. He also charged that the government had not provided him a facility for appropriate medical treatment.

His mother, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and other family members, including nephew Hamza Shehbaz, met the former premier on Wednesday to convince him to shift to hospital. Maryam Nawaz, in a tweet earlier, said that she was taking Nawaz’s mother along with her to convince him to trust the government one last time to shift him to an appropriate hospital. However, the former prime minister declined the request, telling his mother to go home, pray to God and leave the rest to the will of the Almighty. She also announced in the tweet that, owing to her father’s health, the Thursday weekly meetings will not be held.

After the meeting, Mian Shehbaz Sharif also said in his tweet that he had tried to convince his brother to shift to hospital but to no avail. He stated that Nawaz has severe pain in his arm which he said could be symptomatic of a serious condition. Shehbaz Sharif urged all party workers, leaders and supporters of Nawaz all over the country to pray for his health. Separately, Nawaz’s nephew Hamza Shehbaz, speaking after meeting with his uncle, said that Nawaz Sharif's medical condition was alarming and must not be ignored at any cost. He added that if the government was not willing to adhere to directions given by the five medical boards on Nawaz's health, there was no point in constituting these boards. He called any hindrance in the medical treatment process or deviation from it a criminal offence and warned the government that if it did not take immediate steps to provide Nawaz his legal right of appropriate treatment, the PML-N would take serious action.

However, the Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs, Ejaz Alam Augustine, refuted the Sharif family’s allegations, saying in a statement that their complaints of Nawaz not being provided appropriate treatment were baseless. He claimed that Nawaz Sharif did not like Pakistani hospitals and desired treatment abroad which he said was not necessary at this point in time.