Senior PTI leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was hospitalized at the Pakistan Liver and Kidney Institute in Lahore for complications of gallbladder stones, his daughter stated on Friday.
Shah Mahmood has been charged in multiple cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots and remains behind bars since August 2023. In July 2024, the PTI leader was formally charged by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore in a case registered by the Shadman police for alleged attack and arson of the police station.
Meher Bano Qureshi came to X today to announce that the PTI leader was undergoing baseline tests for the stones, which he had “lived with… for years”.
“In 2023, while incarcerated in Adiala Jail, doctors recommended surgery after his condition deteriorated. He decided not to undergo any procedures and then did not want to do so while in solitary confinement,” he wrote.
“Since then, the stones have increased in size and surgery is inevitable. We are waiting for the final report from the doctors and the confirmed date for the operation,” Meher Bano added.
He added that Shah Mahmood also had a “cardiac emergency” while imprisoned in Kot Lakhpat jail, near Lahore, earlier this year.
“What remains deeply painful is knowing that you are not alone in this suffering,” Meher Bano wrote. “All PTI leaders and workers who have endured imprisonment over the past year have faced serious health consequences in inhumane and unjust conditions.
“Many continue to struggle with the effects of prolonged confinement, neglect and isolation… some of our workers have also lost their lives while unjustly imprisoned,” he added.
Former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry also addressed X and wrote that Shah Mahmood has been in the hospital for several days and was visited by family and constituents.
“If PTI leaders can’t even go and ask about him, then saying we shouldn’t even visit him is strange logic,” Chaudhry wrote. “We not only met Shah Mahmood Qureshi, but also met workers and leaders in Kot Lakhpat jail.”
