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ISLAMABAD: Condoling the death of former PM Nawaz Sharif’s wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday assured the family that they would be extended full legal support within the ambit of the law and constitution.
“We have conveyed to the Pakistan High Commission in London to fully cooperate with the [Sharif] family to bring the body back,” Iftikhar Durrani, PM’s media adviser, told Arab News.
“If they [Nawaz and daughter Maryam] apply [for parole] to participate in the rituals, we have no objection to it. Whatever legal facilitation is available, we have conveyed it to them [the family],” Durrani said.
Advocate Sharafat Ali, an assistant to the Sharif family’s legal team, said that it is prerogative for the jail authorities to release Nawaz and Maryam and that they “will apply soon for their release”. “An application will be submitted to the jail authorities seeking the release of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz…we are sure they will attend the funeral,” Ali told Arab News.
Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, passed away at the age of 68 in London on Tuesday after succumbing to a long battle with cancer.
The three-time former first lady was undergoing treatment at London’s Harley Street Clinic, since August last year, after she was diagnosed with early-stage lymphoma.
She underwent multiple surgeries and at least five chemotherapy sessions during the time, and was finally placed on life-support from July this year.
Confirming the news, Nawaz’s brother, Shehbaz Sharif, had tweeted earlier in the day: “My sister-in-law and wife of Mian Nawaz Sharif, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, has passed away. May the departed soul rest in peace.”
With the family deciding to bury Kulsoom in Lahore, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, the Information Secretary for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said that PML-N president Shehbaz was “leaving for London on the first available flight to bring the body back”.
Jailed ex-premier Nawaz and daughter Maryam Nawaz are currently lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after being handed jail sentences for 10 and seven years, in corruption cases.
Condolence messages started pouring in shortly after news of Kulsoom’s demise was reported by the media, with leaders of political parties and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa sharing in the sentiment.
“COAS expresses his grief and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family on the sad demise of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz. May Allah bless the departed soul eternal peace at Heaven-Amen,” Director General Inter-Services Public Relations said in a message.
Kulsoom served as first lady of Pakistan for three terms from 1990-1993, 1997-1999 and 2013-2017. Born in 1950, in Lahore, to a Kashmiri family, Kulsoom married Nawaz in 1970 after completing her Master’s degree in Urdu from the Punjab University, Lahore.
She also served as the president of the PML-N from 1999 to 2002, after her husband’s government was overthrown by former president Pervez Musharraf, in a bloodless coup, in October 1999. Nearly all the Sharif men were jailed at the time.
“She was a courageous lady, and will be remembered for her struggle for democracy and for her love for the people of Pakistan,” Senator Khan told Arab News.