Opposition lawmakers under the banners of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) continued their sit-in for a second consecutive day on Saturday at Parliament House Islamabad and KP House Islamabad, demanding immediate medical treatment for PTI founder Imran Khan.
The protest began after Friday prayers and continued overnight in Islamabad, following disclosure in the Supreme Court of Pakistan that Khan’s right eye had only 15 per cent vision remaining.
Security was tightened at both locations, with heavy police deployment and the Red Zone sealed. All internal and external gates of Parliament House were closed, restricting movement in and out of the premises.
The sit-in is being led by TTAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, alongside PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, and other lawmakers.
At KP House, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and provincial legislators are also participating in the sit-in.
Protesters are demanding that Imran Khan be transferred to Shifa International Hospital for treatment and be granted access to independent medical care.
Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said Parliament House had effectively been turned into a detention facility.
“We have been inside Parliament since yesterday. We wanted to go outside but all the gates were closed,” he said in a video posted by TTAP on X.
“Parliament and its premises have been turned into a prison; it is condemnable.”
“We are not armed. We are standing here with nothing but our ethics and the strength of the truth,” he added.
He further said that Imran Khan, like other prisoners, had legal rights and that “90 per cent” of Pakistanis at home and abroad were concerned about his health.
In a post on X, PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja said the Parliament House, Parliament Lodges, and KP House “had been turned into a jail”, demanding that they “be set free” and alleging that the state was “terrified” of street protests.
PTI Central Information Secretary Shaikh Waqas Akram said the sit-in had entered its second day and that opposition leaders were “trapped” inside Parliament House.
“We also remained inside Parliament House the entire night,” he said, adding that the PTI and TTAP leadership was “exhausted from hunger”.
“The police did not allow dinner at night and now breakfast in the morning to be taken inside,” Akram claimed.
Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar said Imran Khan’s eye treatment was continuing and that further examinations would be conducted at a specialised medical institution by ophthalmology experts.
He said a detailed report would be submitted to the Supreme Court and urged restraint.
Tarar called for avoiding speculation, unfounded reports, and attempts to politicise the issue for personal interests.
The sit-ins at Parliament House and KP House remain in place, with opposition parties insisting on immediate medical intervention and greater transparency in Khan’s treatment.
Authorities said security arrangements would remain in force, while political leaders indicated that the protest would continue until their demands are addressed.
