Pakistan’s former foreign minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was admitted to a hospital after collapsing in his barrack at a jail in Lahore, a prison official said on Tuesday.According to the official, Qureshi suffered a dizzy spell while walking inside his barrack at Kot Lakhpat Jail on Monday, injuring his knee and arm in the fall.The 70-year-old leader was subsequently shifted to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology for treatment, the official added.Qureshi has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases linked to the May 9, 2023, riots, when Tehreek-i-Insaf supporters went on a rampage following the arrest of party chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.Qureshi’s counsel, Rana Mudassar Umar, confirmed that the veteran politician was taken to hospital after fainting and suffering a fall.Umar added that the PTI leader would remain under observation for 24 hours, after which doctors would decide whether he should continue treatment at the hospital or be shifted back to jail.Meanwhile, Qureshi’s daughter alleged that her father had been jailed on “trumped-up” charges and accused the federal government of keeping him behind bars with “malafide” intent.“Three and a half years ago, a hale and hearty lion heart was sent to jail on trumped-up charges. He not only fought the cypher case with resolve and courage but refused to sacrifice his principles at the altar of self-interest,” Mehr Bano said.“My father has been acquitted multiple times but remains behind bars due to the government’s malafide. Over 90 bail hearings have gone by, but the record has yet to be produced. A man whose innocence has been proven again and again is being held… It is high time the judge establishes his authority and grants him bail,” she demanded.Bano also highlighted her father’s more than four decades of public service in Pakistan.“He has served twice as Pakistan’s foreign minister, and as parliamentary leader and vice-chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, he has fulfilled important responsibilities and protected Pakistan’s interests. He has fought for the supremacy of the Constitution and democracy. He deserves justice and freedom,” she stated.(With PTI inputs)
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