PTI govt asking for 'ransom': Shehbaz

Shehbaz says govt has stooped to a new low by asking ex-PM to submit indemnity bonds

LAHORE: PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that the "government has stooped to a new low" by asking former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for multi-billion-rupees indemnity bonds to strike his name off the no-fly list even though the courts have already granted him bail to "seek treatment anywhere in Pakistan or abroad".

The government on Wednesday granted the Sharif family patriarch a "one-time" permission to travel abroad for treatment for a period of four weeks provided he submits an indemnity bond to the tune of Rs7-7.5 billion – a condition immediately spurned by the PML-N.

"The entire nation is worried for Mian Nawaz Sharif, while this government is politicking on this matter," Shehbaz said at a news conference in Lahore on Thursday where he was flanked by senior party colleagues and personal physician of Nawaz Sharif.

"We have decided that we will not accept the indemnity bond condition set by the government," he said. "The country's top legal experts have condemned this condition with one voice, saying that the government has no legal justification for setting this condition."

Shehbaz condemned the "delaying tactics" of the government on the removal of Nawaz's name from the Exit Control List (ECL), saying that NAB, the federal interior ministry and the Punjab home department had turned "Nawaz Sharif's health into a shuttle cork by tossing" the matter of his treatment abroad at each other.

"Nawaz Sharif is critically ill. He is someone who is a national asset, who lives in the hearts of millions of people of Pakistan. Playing dirty politics on his health is condemnable," he said.

Shehbaz said that there was no justification for indemnity bonds since surety bonds worth millions of rupees have already been signed to secure the release of Mian Sahib on bail, while the Lahore high court has said in its verdict that he could seek treatment anywhere.

"If we sign indemnity bonds, then Imran Khan Niazi would misguide the nation telling them that he has recovered Rs7 billion from the Sharifs. These tricks reek of a dirty mind – a small mind," he added.

He reminded Law Minister Faroogh Nasim how he, as the attorney for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, had pleaded for treatment of his backache at a foreign hospital. Gen Musharraf and Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari were not asked to submit indemnity bonds for having their names removed from the ECL, he said while condemning the "double standards" of the government.

The PML-N president recalled that he was informed by Dr Adnan on Oct 22 about the health condition of Nawaz Sharif and then some "God-fearing people" helped him to approach NAB and shift Nawaz to a hospital.

"That day his blood platelet count was 15,000 or 16,000 per microliter, while the next day it dropped to 2,000. It was a miracle in medical history that with such critically low platelet count he didn't suffer internal bleeding," Shehbaz said.

Normal platelet counts are in the range of 150,000 to 400,000 per microliter. Nawaz was shifted to Lahore's Services Hospital where medics diagnosed him with ITP, or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a bleeding disorder in which the immune system starts attacking platelets.

Shehbaz said that it was difficult for the medical board formed by the government to stabilize Nawaz's health as the medication given to him for elevating platelet count would affect the heart since he is also a heart patient. "During ITP treatment, he suffered angina pain several times and a cardiac episode," he revealed.

He said Dr Shamsi, who was called by the government from Karachi, recommended umpteen times – verbally as well as in writing – Mian Nawaz Sharif go abroad for treatment. Punjab Health Minister Yasmeen Rashid endorsed the recommendation. "At the time, Prime Minister Imran Khan also directed [Chief Minister Usman] Buzdar to provide every possible facility to Nawaz Sharif, but unfortunately nothing was done practically," he added.

Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year jail term in a corruption reference, was subsequently granted bail by Lahore and Islamabad high courts on medical grounds and he was shifted to the Sharif Medical City and then to his estate in Raiwind.

He said it was painful to see government officials finding fault with Nawaz's shift to his Raiwind estate. "An ICU [Intensive Care Unit] has been set up for him there. Everybody can visit and see that."

The PML-N president recalled that Nawaz Sharif himself had visited Imran Khan Niazi when he had suffered serious head and back injuries after falling from a lifter while climbing up the stage during an election rally in Lahore in 2013.

If you sow wind today, you would only reap whirlwind, he said while accusing the ruling party of "polarising Pakistani society with their toxic politics".

"The nation will not be able to survive any mishap if it happens due to the government's delaying tactics," he said before going on to directly address the prime minister: "Imran Khan, I will hold you responsible if something happens to Nawaz Sharif due to your perverted mindset."

Shehbaz claimed that there was no legal basis for the government to demand indemnity bonds from the Sharif family because two of the cases against Nawaz — Avenfield and Al Azizia reference — in which fines had been imposed on him have not attained finality while the third — Flashship Investments reference — had been thrown out by the trial court.

Dr Adnan briefed the media on the health condition of Nawaz Sharif. He said that when platelet count drops in childhood, then it's not a major concern, but when it drops in adults and elderly people, then certain medical tests are run to rule out any malignancy.

He disclosed that Ultrasound and C-T scans showed that lymph nodes of Nawaz Sharif were enlarged which indicated there could be, God forbid, high probability of malignancy. "Nawaz Sharif was put on high doses of steroids and IVIg which usually gives good results but in his case unfortunately it didn't work," he added.

ITP is a diagnosis of exclusion, which means the doctors fail to find any malignancy. Since the panel of doctors treating Nawaz couldn't diagnose his condition, he has to be flown abroad for a proper diagnosis and treatment.

Dr Adnan said that certain tests, such as lymph nodes biopsy, bone marrow biopsy and PET Scan, have to be done – and done without any further delay – to rule out any malignancy.