Buck stops with govt if Zardari gets hurt: Aseefa

ISLAMABAD: Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, younger daughter of PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday expressed her serious concern over shifting of her father from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) back to jail despite doctor’s advice for further medical tests.

Aseefa warned that if anything happened to her father, then the government will be held responsible and accountable. “I went to the hospital where doctors informed me that they were being pressurised to shift my father back to jail whereas his condition requires that he should stay at hospital for further tests and treatment. Two medical examinations were conducted: one by the NAB authorities and second by the judicial authorities, and both the medical examinations clearly show that Asif Ali Zardari needs immediate medical treatment,” she said while speaking to reporters at the Zardari House here.

Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, PPPP Secretary General Farhatullah Babar, PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman, PPP media coordinator Nazir Dhoki and other leaders were also present. Aseefa said Zardari suffered from severe spinal issues as a result of 11 and half years of unlawful incarceration and severe cardiac problems. “Owing to these as well as other health issues, Zardari needs immediate medical attention and he should be shifted back to hospital for proper treatment, as it is his right as a citizen of Pakistan and also as former president of Pakistan, head of a political party and a sitting MNA,” she said.

“He is the only former president who is not running away from the court and country and I would like to reiterate Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statement earlier that all this clearly shows the intent of ‘selected’ government to endanger President Zardari’s life to achieve its own agenda,” she added.

Former prime minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf questioned as to why the medical test report was not been shared with Aseefa. “The callous attitude was adopted towards a daughter who went to the hospital to see her father,” he said. Ashraf claimed that government doctors had advised that Zardari be kept at the hospital but the government was not providing him with adequate health facilities. Farhatullah Babar said the ‘selected prime minister’ who had sold out Kashmir was asking people to protest against human rights violation in Kashmir had himself violated the basic rights of a former president. “Do as much as you want, but you should be ready to bear the same when the time comes,” he warned the prime minister. Calling the government a ‘darbar-e-Yazid’, Senator Sherry Rehman said there would be consequences if the ‘selected’ government did not give up its malafide conduct.

Replying to a question, Aseefa said she had the first medical report of the NAB telling that Zardari’s three arteries were blocked. “The reports of recent test are not being shared with us but doctors whom I met told me that the situation is very serious,” she said.

Earlier, speaking to the media outside the PIMS, Aseefa said when she wanted to get in, the authorities locked the doors causing inconvenience to patients and visitors. She said when her father saw her struggling to enter the hospital, he came out on his wheelchair and took her hand and led her to his room. She said the police officers came into the room multiple times and asked her to get out but she refused as she had the court orders which allowed her to meet with her father. The authorities did not let the lawyers speak to Zardari.

When former chairman Senate Senator Farooq H. Naik was asked if they will approach the court, he said, “Yes, as it is not only the contempt of court, but also that the hospital is a public place and no one can be stopped from going in.”