LAHORE    -   PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari set a very healthy precedent on Monday by visiting his party’s staunch opponent Mian Nawaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail to inquire after him.

He called upon the government not to subject the former prime minister, who is a heart patient, to “stress” as it would amount to torturing him.

Talking to reporters outside the jail after an hour-plus meeting with the incarcerated three-time former premier, Mr Bilawal said Mr Sharif looked very ill and he should be given treatment of his choice.

“I got no inkling that he is trying to get an NRO. He is sticking to his principles”, said the youthful PPP chairman, who came out of jail with a broad smile on his face.

Bilwal is the first top political leader from a major party other than PML-N who has confirmed that the PML-N supremo really looked gravely ill and.

He said speculations that the incarcerated leader was trying to get some kind of NRO was a conspiracy against him.

Important PPP leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira, Mustafa Khokhar and Hassan Murtaza also accompanied their chairman to the prison.

The meeting took place at the office of the additional jail superintendent.

Bilawal regretted that the three-time former prime minister was now in jail. He recalled that his maternal grandfather late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and a number of PPP workers had also spent time at Kot Lakhpat jail.

He said political differences apart, Islam enjoins its followers to inquire after the sick. Also, he said, no one should be subjected to injustice or humiliation.

The PPP chairman was of the opinion that the government should take all political parties along at a time when there was a situation of war with India.

Referring to the Charter of Democracy (CoD) Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had signed in 2006, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said it was regrettable that not all articles of this document had been translated into reality.

He said his party wanted a new document prepared with input from all political parties to effectively deal with the prevailing political situation.

He said he would not like Prime Minister Imran Khan to face a situation that his children have to go from pillar to post to get justice.

Asked if he would like to invite the PTI to join the CoD, Bilawal said he would welcome the ideological beings in the ruling party. However, he doubted that they would.

According to some reports, the PPP leader said at his meeting with Mr Sharif that the government would not be able to keep him behind bars for long. He hoped that their next meeting would be out of jail.

Mr Sharif said he wanted the rulers to treat him, not ridicule him. He made it clear that the jail would not be able to unnerve him.

He admitted that it was a mistake on his part not to accept the PPP’s offer to amend certain clauses of Articles 62/63 of the Constitution in the past.

The PPP leader offered Mr Sharif treatment at a Karachi hospital where all necessary facilities for heart patients are available.