Nawaz meets Shehbaz, daughter at Kot Lakhpat

Authorities don’t allow senior PML-N leaders to meet three-time former premier


Our Correspondent July 05, 2019
Islamabad High Court issued detailed verdict on bail plea of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: PID/FILE

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) incarcerated leader Nawaz Sharif on Thursday met his family members at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, outside which hundreds of PML-N workers and leaders swarmed in solidarity of the three-time former prime minister.

Apart from his family members, including PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Vice President Maryam Nawaz, many senior party leaders – Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif, Rana Tanveer, Ahsan Iqbal, Khurram Dastagir, Marriyam Aurangzeb, Mussadik Malik –also arrived at the jail to meet the former PM.

However, the jail authorities in light of directives of the Interior Ministry only allowed five members of Sharif family to meet the former premier. The workers showered rose petals on Maryam and Shehbaz when they arrived at the jail and also tried to move closer to the jail’s entrance.

They had also brought with them camps to be set up outside the jail premises. Punjab Police, however, evicted the workers and stopped them from setting up camps near the jail.

During the meeting Nawaz, who has been serving a seven-year jail term since December 2018 when an accountability court found him guilty in a corruption reference, reportedly condemned the recent arrest of the PML-N Punjab leader Rana Sanaullah and also discussed the current political situation.

Nawaz Sharif reportedly said Sanaulllah is an effective voice of the opposition which the government has tried to subdue through a fake case. The family members took guidance from Nawaz Sharif with regard to the party’s future strategy.

A day earlier, Nawaz’s personal doctor was not allowed to meet him.

Dr Adnan Khan in his Twitter statement later said despite waiting for many hours he was not allowed to conduct medical checkup of former premier. Nawaz Sharif is suffering from a serious disease but permission to meet him is not being given, he said.

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