Double standards: The poor may wait for eternity
When it comes to the common Pakistani, many question whether they would receive same promptness in Nawaz’s situation
PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
When it comes to any manner of official or legal business, it often feels as if there are two separate codes of conduct in Pakistan to deal with the haves and have-nots.
Take the recent case of Nawaz Sharif and his temporary release to seek medical attention abroad. Whatever the debate surrounding the former prime minister’s actual condition and supposed real intentions, the issue dominated both the news cycle and our judiciary’s attention until the matter was finally and relatively promptly resolved.
When it comes to the common Pakistani, however, many often question whether they would receive the same promptness in Nawaz’s situation. Convict Faizan Ahmed’s present predicament is a case in point. Diagnosed with a form of blood cancer over three years ago, the 20-year-old inmate of Mandi Bahauddin jail has received no such relief.
Grim prognosis
Faizan’s alarming diagnosis came when he was referred to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital in 2016. Incarcerated in Mandi Bahauddin District Jail, prison authorities initially referred him to Lahore Central Jail for preliminary medical examination.
“Convict Faizan Ahmed, 19 years of age, was initially examined by me. [He had] history of typhoid fever in November 2015, when he was extensively investigated by the general physician of DHQ Hospital Mandi Bahauddin,” wrote the medical officer of the Lahore Central Jail in a report which was submitted to the Lahore High Court November last year.
“He was then referred to Jinnah Hospital Lahore for [further] investigation and management. He was diagnosed as a case of Chronic Myeloid Proliferative Disorders viz. Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) in March 2016 with the help of bone marrow biopsy,” the officer, who initially examined Faizan, wrote.
CML is a form of cancer that affects the white blood cells. Those who suffer from it “are very prone to infectious diseases like Cytomegaloviruses, Tuberculosis and Hepatitis-C,” the report pointed out.
Faizan’s treatment was initiated by Jinnah Hospital Oncology Department Head Dr Muhammad Akram shortly after diagnosis. In September 2016, when he was transferred back to Mandi Bahauddin District Jail as an under-trial prisoner, Faizan was registered as a patient with the Punjab CML Project run by the provincial health department.
“Since he [Faizan] needs regular complete blood count monitoring from Shaukat Khanam Hospital Lahore every month and BCR/ABL fusion gene [test] by FISH method from Aga Khan Medical University Karachi every six months… he is an immune [system] compromised patient,” report pointed out. “It is recommended not to keep him inside jail premises for best health,” it clearly stated.
Pillar to post
LHC Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan sought the Lahore Central Jail medical officer’s report when Faizan’s counsel Nauman Attique challenged a trial court order sentencing the youth to life imprisonment in a murder case. Citing his serious medical condition, the lawyer sought the suspension of Faizan’s sentence.
After the report was submitted in November 2018, the case was adjourned without a fixed date for the next hearing as the concerned judge became part of the LHC Multan Bench. The case was later assigned to Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem and has been pending ever since. “We submitted applications for early hearing repeatedly,” said Nauman. “But no development has taken place so far.”
Members of Faizan’s family, meanwhile, lamented the lack of attention paid to the youth’s case. “We have moved from pillar to post. Faizan is close to dying in jail, but no one seems to be ready to take up his case,” said one family member. “We barely have enough money to engage a lawyer.”
“They say everyone is equal in the eye of the law. But then why is it that cases concerning the elite are treated with urgency and those concerning the poor are ignored,” said another. “Everything is possible for the rich and powerful, but if it is the poor being punished, then there is no relaxation,” the family member said, alluding to Nawaz’s case.
Faizan’s family urged LHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan to take notice of his predicament and suspend his sentence as interim relief so that he could spend the time he had left with his loved ones.
When it comes to any manner of official or legal business, it often feels as if there are two separate codes of conduct in Pakistan to deal with the haves and have-nots.
Take the recent case of Nawaz Sharif and his temporary release to seek medical attention abroad. Whatever the debate surrounding the former prime minister’s actual condition and supposed real intentions, the issue dominated both the news cycle and our judiciary’s attention until the matter was finally and relatively promptly resolved.
When it comes to the common Pakistani, however, many often question whether they would receive the same promptness in Nawaz’s situation. Convict Faizan Ahmed’s present predicament is a case in point. Diagnosed with a form of blood cancer over three years ago, the 20-year-old inmate of Mandi Bahauddin jail has received no such relief.
Grim prognosis
Faizan’s alarming diagnosis came when he was referred to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital in 2016. Incarcerated in Mandi Bahauddin District Jail, prison authorities initially referred him to Lahore Central Jail for preliminary medical examination.
“Convict Faizan Ahmed, 19 years of age, was initially examined by me. [He had] history of typhoid fever in November 2015, when he was extensively investigated by the general physician of DHQ Hospital Mandi Bahauddin,” wrote the medical officer of the Lahore Central Jail in a report which was submitted to the Lahore High Court November last year.
“He was then referred to Jinnah Hospital Lahore for [further] investigation and management. He was diagnosed as a case of Chronic Myeloid Proliferative Disorders viz. Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) in March 2016 with the help of bone marrow biopsy,” the officer, who initially examined Faizan, wrote.
CML is a form of cancer that affects the white blood cells. Those who suffer from it “are very prone to infectious diseases like Cytomegaloviruses, Tuberculosis and Hepatitis-C,” the report pointed out.
Faizan’s treatment was initiated by Jinnah Hospital Oncology Department Head Dr Muhammad Akram shortly after diagnosis. In September 2016, when he was transferred back to Mandi Bahauddin District Jail as an under-trial prisoner, Faizan was registered as a patient with the Punjab CML Project run by the provincial health department.
“Since he [Faizan] needs regular complete blood count monitoring from Shaukat Khanam Hospital Lahore every month and BCR/ABL fusion gene [test] by FISH method from Aga Khan Medical University Karachi every six months… he is an immune [system] compromised patient,” report pointed out. “It is recommended not to keep him inside jail premises for best health,” it clearly stated.
Pillar to post
LHC Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan sought the Lahore Central Jail medical officer’s report when Faizan’s counsel Nauman Attique challenged a trial court order sentencing the youth to life imprisonment in a murder case. Citing his serious medical condition, the lawyer sought the suspension of Faizan’s sentence.
After the report was submitted in November 2018, the case was adjourned without a fixed date for the next hearing as the concerned judge became part of the LHC Multan Bench. The case was later assigned to Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem and has been pending ever since. “We submitted applications for early hearing repeatedly,” said Nauman. “But no development has taken place so far.”
Members of Faizan’s family, meanwhile, lamented the lack of attention paid to the youth’s case. “We have moved from pillar to post. Faizan is close to dying in jail, but no one seems to be ready to take up his case,” said one family member. “We barely have enough money to engage a lawyer.”
“They say everyone is equal in the eye of the law. But then why is it that cases concerning the elite are treated with urgency and those concerning the poor are ignored,” said another. “Everything is possible for the rich and powerful, but if it is the poor being punished, then there is no relaxation,” the family member said, alluding to Nawaz’s case.
Faizan’s family urged LHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan to take notice of his predicament and suspend his sentence as interim relief so that he could spend the time he had left with his loved ones.