Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday tweeted a heartfelt message for her mother Begum Kulsoom Nawaz on her parents’ 48th wedding anniversary.
The PML-N supremo’s daughter said, “Your loss is painful beyond words but your death will not destroy the love that connects us all. The memories we made together will stay alive in our hearts & minds. May your body & soul be in peace. Ameen. Happy 48th wedding anniversary Abu & Ami.”
Your loss is painful beyond words but your death will not destroy the love that connects us all. The memories we made together will stay alive in our hearts & minds. May your body & soul be in peace. Ameen. Happy 48th wedding anniversary Abu & Ami ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FvBrokunKI
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 2, 2019
The Former first lady died in a London hospital after a prolonged illness on September 11, 2018, while her husband and daughter were in jail after an accountability court sentenced them to jail imprisonment in a corruption reference.
In her husband’s absence, her body was received by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif. Later, her casket was flown to Pakistan and she was buried at Jati Umra in the presence of her family, including her daughter and husband, who were granted parole.
Kulsoom’s health deteriorated rapidly after her initial diagnosis with lymphoma in June 2017. She was running for a by-election in her PML-N’s stronghold of Lahore at the time. In September that year, she handily won that by-election, beating out the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Yasmin Rashid, despite not being able to campaign. In her stead, her campaign was led by her daughter Maryam Nawaz. Nawaz had been struggling in and out of consciousness in recent months, being placed on a ventilator at one point.
Following her death, politicians from both sides of the aisle – including Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, President Arif Alvi, and numerous members of the PML-N – offered condolence messages to the Sharif family via Twitter.
In a statement, Prime Minister Imran Khan, a bitter rival to the Sharifs whose PTI handily beat the outgoing PML-N at a general election in July 2018, said that Nawaz and his daughter would be “provided all facilities that they are entitled to under law”. Khan termed the former first lady a “brave woman”.
Born in 1950, she was known for her reserved nature in public, serving as a quiet foil to her husband, who was elected as Pakistan’s prime minister three times.
Although her public role – particularly with regards to Pakistan’s domestic politics – was limited, she was known to exercise a certain degree of quiet power within the PML-N party.