News Analysis |
PML-N Chief Shahbaz Sharif arrived in London to receive the dead body of sister-in-law and former first lady Begum Kulsoom Nawaz. He was received by his nephews Hassan and Hussain Nawaz. Hussain Nawaz broke down as he embraced his uncle. A video of that incident has been displayed by social media handles mostly belonging to the PML-N.
The three-time first lady Kulsoom Nawaz passed away yesterday in London after a long battle with cancer. Begum Kulsoom Nawaz had flown out to London after being diagnosed with lymphoma in August 2017 and had since been in treatment in London in a private clinic at Harley Street. In June 2018, Kulsoom Nawaz suffered a cardiac arrest and had since been placed on the ventilator.
Meanwhile, both her sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz have refused to attend the funeral which will be held in Pakistan. Hussain confirmed that both he and his brother Hassan will not travel to Pakistan for their mother’s burial. Last year, the accountability court declared former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s children Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz as absconders after both failed to appear in the court despite non-bailable arrest warrants issued against them.
read more: Viral video shows grief of grieving Nawaz and Maryam
The son’s refusal has raised concerns over the show of grief of the Sharif family. To many, it brings back the time when both Nawaz and Shahbaz’s father died in Saudi Arabia. During that time Pakistan was under the rule of Pervez Musharraf and the Sharif Family was residing in exile in Saudi Arabia under a deal made with the military government.
According to reports, the Musharraf government was open to allowing the Sharif brothers to return for a short period of time to bury their father. However, the Sharifs refused because it would be seen that they were dealing with the same government they held illegal. In the end, their father was buried without his immediate family in the family graveyard. For many, this shows the Sharif clan’s disregard for personal relations as they are always trumped by political decisions.