Maleeha Hashmey |
The death of a mother is the first sorrow wept without her. It is arguably the biggest loss one gets to encounter and it takes years for one to actually appreciate the impact of what is gone. I have lost count of the lives I have seen “cancer” – the most unforgiving malady to exist on the face of the earth, engulf mercilessly. As the unfortunate news of ex-First Lady of Pakistan, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz’s sad demise broke; I couldn’t resist my heartfelt sorrow turn into tears rolling down my cheeks. She had always come across as a very decent, humble and graceful woman fulfilling every role of hers with such compassion.
From being a devoted mother to a supportive wife to an empathetic human, she did it all with exceptional poise and composure. We saw her fight cancer for over a year with absolute fortitude and today was the day she left for her Heavenly abode, leaving her family and the whole country in grief. As the news started circulating, we started having mixed reactions pouring in from different quarters of the country. On one hand, a prominent leader from the opposition, Mr. Aitezaz Ahsan, unconditionally apologized over his unkind statements regarding Kulsoom Nawaz’s illness that hurt Sharif family’s sentiments in the recent past.
Hope it helps the above mentioned “warriors of democracy”, including the top PMLN leadership, comprehend what actually happened over the last two years and recover from what they usually term as “dementia”.
Not only that, he set a new precedent by publicly apologizing for being bitter back then and extended his support to the family of the bereaved. Following that, we saw Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan’s condolence message along with his tribute to the late ex-First Lady for her resilience in the face of this cruel disease. On the other hand, to my dismay, I found my Newsfeed on Facebook and Twitter, flooded with crazy outbursts on the Establishment, Judiciary and Armed Forces of Pakistan. Having gone through those tweets and the profiles that tweeted them, it turned out that it was PMLN social media Brigade that was trying to shift the blame of this natural death on the Supreme Judicial Institution of Pakistan.
Read more: Kulsoom Nawaz passes away in London
As I switched on the television, I could hear the Secretary-General of PMLN, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, reiterate that narrative with complete conviction, stating that, “It was a conspiracy that led to the imprisonment of the disqualified ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, and that history will remember the dark characters that didn’t let Begum Kulsoom spend the last days of her life with her family”. Little do they know that in an attempt to distort the reality and portray Nawaz Sharif & his daughter as the tragic heroes, it is only adding to the misery of the deceased and not doing them any favor at all.
Here I want to get some facts straight, loud and clear. Hope it helps the above mentioned “warriors of democracy”, including the top PML-N leadership, comprehend what actually happened over the last two years and recover from what they usually term as “dementia”.
On one hand, a prominent leader from the opposition, Mr. Aitezaz Ahsan, unconditionally apologized over his unkind statements regarding Kulsoom Nawaz’s illness that hurt Sharif family’s sentiments in the recent past.
- Sharif family, having gone through the Panama Case Proceedings, got ample time and opportunities to present the required money trail of the infamous London flats to the courts. Mr. Nawaz Sharif, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, despite attempting to gain the public confidence with his address to the nation and his famous speech in the Parliament (Huzoor yeh hain woh zaraaye jin se London flats khareeday), just couldn’t prove any such thing in his favor and all his lawyer came up with, was five Qatari letters, that even Mr. Qatari refused to own. (I’m a fan of his high intellect though)
- Neither the purchase of London flats nor the presentation of bogus Qatari Letter as an evidence, was suggested by the Judiciary, Establishment or Armed Forces of Pakistan. Sharif family was given way more time than an average (read less affluent) Pakistani gets to have for presenting the evidence, in many minor cases, let alone such a mega corruption scandal.
- Flying back to Pakistan before the General Election’ 2018, was a decision solely made by Sharif family themselves, for gaining the much needed political mileage and to add fuel to their fierce election campaign that was revolving around “Vote (Lootay hue note) ko izzat do” (Save my ill gotten wealth) and “Jamhooriat Bachao” (Save Sharif family). Nobody forced them to make it Pakistan, leaving Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, with Hasan Nawaz, Husain Nawaz & Asma Nawaz.
- A strong backlash from PMLN supporters is being faced by Sharifs’ political opponents who are condoning with the family for their loss. Apparently, they are upset over PMLN’s opponents for questioning the relevance of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz’s illness with their election campaign. At this moment of immense grief when Sharif family is watching their colorful and exuberant home turn into a lifeless house as the Queen of the house passes on to next world, I would really appreciate all of my country fellows to please respect the deceased and stop giving a political spin to her Heavenly abode. It’s neither strengthening Sharif’s case nor is it going to influence the already announced judgment of the Supreme Court. What it is doing instead is add salt to their injury.
- As per the news, Mr. Nawaz Sharif and his daughter will be sent home on a four-day parole so that they can meet their family and receive in-person condolences from their loved ones. May the departed soul rest in peace and be blessed with the best comforts of Jannat ul Firdous. Amen! It would be an injustice to the humanity of my nation if I don’t commend them for standing in solidarity with the bereaved family. However, what’s painful to watch is some disruptive and manipulative elements that are unapologetically pitching a new narrative war on electronic and social media even at such testing times for the family they claim to be politically affiliated with.
Perhaps, they hope that such shrewd tactics can help Nawaz and Maryam break the chains and run away but alas, such strategies only work in Sultan Rahi starred Lollywood movies. Our judicial system is way stronger than yesterday where decisions are nothing but merit-based and any such relaxation to the powerful elite would only mean giving the same sort of privilege to every common citizen of Pakistan who loses their beloved mother while being imprisoned. After all, the bond that a mother and a child cherish is as precious to the poor as it is for the rich.
Read more: What happened to Begum Kulsoom Nawaz ‘s health now? – Analysis
Let’s hope to march towards a more sensible, tolerant, empathetic and inclusive society where competent people are not deprived of their right to serve their country on the basis of belonging to a lesser popular school of religious beliefs, where we don’t dare having a skeptical view of someone’s illness, where deaths are not used to political advantages, where people are not treated with disdain merely because of not being able to fit in “the box”, where no one gets abused for their religious and socio-cultural beliefs, where we cherish the similarities and respect the differences, where bread is cheaper than blood, where a non-Muslim’s life is as wonderfully secure as Muslims, where we strive to propose a WIN-WIN solution for all, where apologizing and moving on is easier than cutting the ties for good, where love prevails and hatred loses every single time. Pakistan Zindabad!
Maleeha Hashmey is a corporate trainer, motivational speaker, socio-political enthusiast and human resource development consultant by profession. She has been working with the telecommunication sector as a corporate trainer. She has been working with the Ministry of Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as a Human Resource Development Consultant & Teacher Trainer. Her dream is to make Pakistan a stronger economic state that the whole world views as a force to reckon with. She can be followed on Twitter via her Twitter handle @MaleehaHashmey. The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.