Is Nawaz Sharif playing smart on his health?

By Maryam Farooq Nisar

Over the past few months PML (N) members are condemning the government for not providing Nawaz Sharif, the ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz with passable medical care.

According to his doctors and medical tests, Nawaz Sharif is suffering from severe immune syndrome which lead to a dangerously low count of blood platelets.Sharif was under treatment at a hospital run by the government authorities where he was not satisfied with the standard of medical care provided to him.

During his 10 day custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly declined the offer of getting examined by any doctor belonging to the government sector, except his personal physician, Dr. Adnan.

The three cardiologists were deployed on duty for eight hours daily but the former Premier just permitted them to check his blood pressure. However, after doctors proved unable to diagnose his illness, Nawaz Sharif was endorsed by the government in November 2019 following the court orders to travel abroad giving approval that he should be treated in any foreign hospital there.

Suppositions about his illness arose when the ailing Sharif was photographed enjoying dinner with his close family members at a restaurant in London. This was enough to give an opportunity to government ministers to ponder whether the ex-Premier was really sick or he was faking illness to elude penitentiary.

After raising hue and cry over the issue that accurate medical treatment was not available in Pakistan to determine the cause of his deteriorating platelet count, Nawaz Sharif was boarded to London in a chartered air ambulance of the Qatar Airways. Some high ups and government ministers alleged that his illness ‘drama’ was illness was a subterfuge to escape detention. To ascertain this fact, the restaurant image gives credibility to their qualms. To many the question arises whether this socializing was a part of his treatment.

The unanswered question is whether the ex-Premier would return to face the charges against him and complete his seven year imprisonment behind the bars. In another scenario, it is speculated that he might be faking the drama of his illness for an indefinite period by showing the reports of his self-proclaimed sickness. Or would the government put its foot down by not accepting his shamming stance. Too many queries with no retort! — Pak Destiny