Adiala to PIMS

The rumours that Imran Khan, the jailed PTI leader, is not keeping good health have proven true. A belated confirmation has come from the government that the former PM was taken out of jail for an eye surgery. He was diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion in his right eye.

It is a welcome development though that he has been treated for the eye ailment. It provides some credence to the beleaguered dispensation which is daily drawing ire for its incapacity to implement the jail manual and ensure that the incarcerated leader gets to meet with his family and lawyers. That Khan remains in solitary confinement and is denied audience with his associates for more than 100 days now is unbecoming of democracy, ethics and morality. It subscribes to the notion that he is being victimised and that too at the expense of much-needed political harmony in the country that continues to a toll on the economy.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar's admission that Khan is "absolutely healthy" comes as a consolation. But the fact that undesired secrecy is being maintained on his whereabouts – as he was moved in the darkness of the night for medical aid, and his family and party were not taken into confidence – is a stigma of credibility crisis for the government. The opposition alliance, TTAP, is now mulling a street movement, starting with a shutter-down strike on February 8. The coalition government would be better advised to pacify an agitating opposition by providing them due political space and releasing all political prisoners, including Khan.

The least that the government should accede to is to deal with Khan's imprisonment as per law and enable him recourse to judicial relief. Last but not least, ending a ban on Khan's meetings and providing him with due medical treatment and lodging as per his stature by law can send the right signals for scaling down political mercury. It's time to enter into a dialogue for political reconciliation. No point in fomenting a new culture of otherness and repression.