LAHORE (DNA) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday threatened that politics would turn violent if anything happens to former premier Nawaz Sharif – who is serving seven-year imprisonment at the Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.“Nawaz Sharif has never insisted on availing treatment abroad,” he said while speaking to the media.However, the option of sending him abroad for treatment could be considered upon his release from the prison on bail, he added.He said he had met Nawaz at the jail along with Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, Maryam Nawaz and the PML-N supreme leader’s personal doctor yesterday, adding that he [Nawaz] declined to avail treatment at a hospital despite their efforts to convince him.Moreover, he strongly criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for providing improper treatment to Sharif at the Jinnah Hospital and the Services Hospital where he was shifted lately following the recommendations of a panel of medical doctors.Because of political pressure, he said, doctors were not able to make a prognosis about Nawaz’s health, stressing the need for his immediate treatment.He recalled that when Begum Kulsoom Nawaz was sick, opponents had made propaganda about her health.
“Nawaz Sharif will not let anyone do politics over his ailment,” he went on to say.Contrarily, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, in a way, offered a way out for Sharif through a plea bargain – a provision which is contained within Section 25 in the NAB Ordinance, 1999.He said that Sharif could get his freedom through plea bargain.The Supreme Court had rejected Nawaz Sharif‘s appeal for a quick hearing of his petition to have his sentence in the Al-Azizia case suspended.He had also requested a bail on the medical grounds that his health was deteriorating, and proper treatment was not possible at the jail.On the other hand, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s spokesperson Dr Shehbaz Gul refuted what he termed ‘baseless accusations’ against the government in providing medical facilities to Sharif.He spoke to the media, and said maximum possible medical assistance has been assured to the PML-N leader. He said they have been informed to avail medical treatment in a best possible way.
