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.
Kulsoom Nawaz to be buried in Pakistan
Kulsoom Nawaz to be buried in Pakistan
- Government says it has no objection to Nawaz Sharif and daughter being part of funeral
- Kulsoom Nawaz to be buried in Pakistan
Pakistan’s deputy PM says country will not send forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Ishaq Dar says Pakistan open to peacekeeping but Gaza’s internal security is Palestinian responsibility
- Pakistan’s top religious clerics from different schools have warned against sending forces to Palestine
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday Pakistan was willing to contribute to an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, though it would not deploy troops to disarm or de-weaponize Hamas.
The statement follows media reports saying Washington views Pakistan as a potentially significant contributor given its battle-hardened military and wants it to be part of International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is part of United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point framework for a Gaza peace plan.
The plan announced by Trump at the White House on September 29 was formally adopted at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October. Co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the summit brought together leaders from 27 countries to sign the “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity.”
Deployment of troops from Muslim-majority countries during a transitional stabilization phase is a key part of the plan before the war-ravaged Palestinian territory moves toward reconstruction and a longer-term political settlement.
“If they say that we should go and start fighting, disarm Hamas, de-weaponize them, and go and destroy the tunnels that Hamas has built until now, that is not our job,” Dar, who is also the country’s foreign minister, told reporters during a year-end briefing in Islamabad.
He emphasized there was clarity between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership over the matter.
“We have a very complete understanding on this matter that we cannot do that kind of work,” he added.
The deputy prime minister said Pakistan had been using the term “peacekeeping” and had never used the phrase “peace enforcement” while discussing the force.
“I have been very clear: Pakistan will be happy to join if the mandate is not peace enforcement and disarming and de-weaponizing Hamas.”
The government’s stance comes amid growing domestic pressure over the issue.
On Monday, a group of Pakistan’s top religious leaders, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, warned the government against yielding to what they described as international pressure to send forces to Gaza.
In a joint statement from Karachi, the clerics — representing Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought — said that Washington wanted Muslim countries to send their forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas.
“Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan,” it added.
Addressing such concerns, Dar said Pakistan would not land its forces in Palestine to “fight Muslims.”
Israel has repeatedly called for the disarmament of Hamas as a precondition for any long-term settlement, and the United Nations Security Council has also endorsed the ISF framework in November.
However, Dar maintained during the media briefing the internal security of Gaza was the Palestinian responsibility.
“The Palestinian Authority, their government, it is their job, it is the job of their law enforcement agency,” he said
The deputy prime minister also highlighted Pakistan’s involvement in the “Arab Islamic Group of Eight,” including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkiye and Indonesia, which has been coordinating on the crisis.
He said the efforts of these countries had brought some peace to Palestine and reduced bloodshed.
“Our declared policy is that there should be an independent two-state solution,” he continued while calling for pre-1967 borders.
