A courageous
lady
What was feared
by many right thinking people has unfortunately come to pass. Kulsoom Nawaz,
the wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was under treatment for
cancer in a London hospital, is no more. Tragic as her passing is, it is
compounded by the fact that neither Nawaz Sharif nor her daughter Maryam Nawaz
were by her side in her last moments. Both father and daughter have been
granted a 12-hour parole to take part in her funeral in Lahore. Shahbaz Sharif
is travelling to London to accompany her body home. The funeral is expected in
Jati Umra, the Sharif family’s residence, on Friday, September 14, 2018. That
implies the parole may be extended until the funeral. While the parole is a
good humanitarian gesture, this same spirit can be invoked to suggest Jati Umra
be declared a sub-jail for at least a limited time if not permanently, to allow
the Sharif family to be together in their period of grief and mourning. Hussain
and Hasan Nawaz, sons of Kulsoom Nawaz, may not be able to travel to Pakistan
to attend her funeral since they have been declared proclaimed offenders by an
accountability court and face arrest as soon as they land here. Condolences
have been flooding in from the President, Prime Minister, COAS, politicians and
others since the sad news of Kulsoom’s demise broke. This shows a civilized and
human face of our society, in sharp contrast with the politically motivated
statements over the past year or so when the Sharifs were accused by various
political rivals of staging the ‘drama’ of Kulsoom’s illness to gain sympathy
in their time of trouble. PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan in particular stands out for the
uninformed and callous statements he is on record as making until recently. He
has finally apologized after Kulsoom’s passing for anything he said having hurt
the family. If only he had used more wisdom in separating political contention
from humanitarian considerations. Many others, Imran Khan downwards, had also
made scathing remarks about Kulsoom’s illness, for which they have not uttered
a word of apology, not even when condoling her death and praising her for
sterling qualities of head and heart.
An educated,
brave but retiring personality, Kulsoom Nawaz rose to the challenge when her
husband was incarcerated in 1999 following General Musharraf’s coup. She led
protests, defied the authorities in sterling fashion, and helped guide the
PML-N at a time when its leaders were behind bars. Not only did she hold the
PML-N together after the Sharifs were sent into exile in Saudi Arabia, she
cemented the opposition in the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD)
to struggle against Musharraf’s military regime. She was also instrumental in
reconciling her party with Benazir Bhutto’s PPP, a move that led to the signing
of the Charter of Democracy between the two parties in London in exile. When
Nawaz Sharif was disqualified last year and had to vacate his National Assembly
seat, Kulsoom Nawaz was entered as the PML-N’s candidate in the by-election in
the Sharifs’ home constituency of NA-120. Although she could not participate in
the election campaign as she was by then under treatment for cancer in London,
her daughter Maryam ran a successful campaign to see her elected.
Unfortunately, because of her absence, Kulsoom was unable to take the oath to
enter the previous parliament. Kulsoom Nawaz will long be remembered as an
educated but modest, traditional wife who stood by her husband through thick
and thin and proved a strong and inspiring leader in periods of adversity. It
is unfortunate to recall that amidst all the calumny heaped on Nawaz Sharif
regarding allegations that Kulsoom’s illness was trumped up for expedient
political reasons, it is also a sad footnote that the accountability court
where Nawaz Sharif’s cases are being heard repeatedly denied him exemption from
appearance to visit his ailing wife. In hindsight this seems doubly vindictive
when he and Maryam returned from London and surrendered to the authorities
after they were convicted and sentenced. Languishing in Adiala Jail, father and
daughter must have been shattered and anguished at being deprived of being by
Kulsoom Nawaz’s side as she drew her last breaths.
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