PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz left Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally abruptly after the news of the passing away of her grandmother.
“I came to meet you, but I have just found out my grandmother passed away in London,” she said in a short address, asking people to pray for the departed soul and the health of her father.
She said she received the news after two hours as mobile phone signals were blocked to the rally. The government had raised a terror threat alert ahead of the rally and block mobile phone signals over security reasons.
Begum Shamim Akhtar, the mother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif passed away in London on Sunday.
PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar announced the tragic news on Twitter and wrote that “Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shehbaz Sharif’s mother has passed away.” Tarar said Shahbaz’s Sharif’s son Suleman informed about the demise of Shamim Akhtar from London on phone and her body will be shifted to Pakistan.
In February this year, Shamim Akhtar left for London to be with her son during a cardiac procedure. Nawaz Sharif has left for London in November last year for medical treatment.
Begum Akhter was 90 years old and had been ill for a while. According to reports, she was undergoing medical treatment. She will be buried at the Sharif family graveyard in Jati Umrah, according to PML-N leader Uzma Bukhari.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed his condolences on her demise. “My condolences and prayers go to the Sharif family on the passing of Mian Nawaz and Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s mother,” he said.
