LAHORE: Begum Kulsoom, wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was laid to rest on Friday evening at Jati Umra after funeral prayers were offered for her at Sharif Medical City, Raiwind.

A large number of people, including workers and leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other political parties, turned up for her funeral at Sharif Medical City where her body was brought from Lahore airport.

She passed away at a private hospital in London on Sept 11. Her first funeral was held in London on Thursday after which a PIA plane carrying her body reached here on Friday morning.

Since early morning, people had started gathering at Jati Umra. The Sharif Medical City ground was divided into two as barbed wire was placed to separate VIPs from the common citizens. Yet it was not easy for the VIPs to reach the ground by wading through the large crowds at the entrance. The ground was almost full to its capacity though people had to travel two kilometres by foot to reach the funeral venue after parking their vehicles.

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After reaching the venue along with the casket, Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif appealed to the people to line up for funeral prayers and not to come close to them but the charged party workers who had managed to enter the VIP side were eager to have a glimpse of their leader (Nawaz) and did not pay much heed to their words. Later, Maulana Tariq Jamil led the funeral prayers.

Emotional scenes were witnessed after the funeral as the charged workers rushed to the van carrying the casket of Begum Kulsoom and chanted Madar-i-jamhooriat al­wida alwida (goodbye, mother of democracy).

They moved along with the van to Jati Umra (where she was later laid to rest) but the Sharif family’s security stopped them, as no one other than the family was allowed there. “I came here from Nankana sahib early in the morning to attend the funeral of the great lady but I am unhappy that I couldn’t see Mian Sahib. My leader is innocent and he shouldn’t be in jail,” said a sobbing Iqbal Ahmed Khan. Hafiz Hamza Akhtar, a die-hard worker from Lahore’s Faisal Town, said he managed to enter the area reserved for the VIPs and shook hands with the party supremo. “I never saw Mian sahib so sad. He appears shattered after her demise. His health is also not good. Every PML-N worker is feeling for him and praying for his release from the prison,” Mr Akhtar said.

Begum Kulsoom was laid to rest near the graves of her father-in-law Mian Sharif and brother-in-law Abbas Sharif at the Sharif family’s Jati Umra residence.

Earlier on Thursday, her sons Hassan and Hussain along with their uncle Shahbaz Sharif offered funeral prayers for her in London. While they did not come to Pakistan, where they have been declared proclaimed offenders in the corruption references against the Sharif family, their children and wives did return to Jati Umra.

Diagnosed by lymphoma (throat cancer) in August 2017, Begum Kulsoom underwent several surgeries and chemotherapy during the past 13 months. She suffered a heart attack in mid-June and was placed on a life-support machine. In the first week of August, her condition improved and she was taken off from the ventilator. However, her condition deteriorated on Sept 9 again and she breathed her last on Sept 11.

Prominent among those attended the funeral prayers were former president Mamnoon Hussain, former prime ministers Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Yousuf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Pervez Elahi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilor, MQM leaders Farooq Sattar and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, veteran leader Javed Hashmi, Ayaz Sadiq, PPP’s Khursheed Shah and Qamar Zaman Kaira, Raja Zafarul Haq, Mohammad Mehdi, who had edited her book ‘Jabar and Jamhooriat’, and Rana Sanaullah.

Later in the evening, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuolu called on Nawaz Sharif at Jati Umra and condoled with him the demise of Begum Kulsoom.

The ousted PM, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar have been on a five-day parole till Monday 4pm.

They were released on Wednesday evening from Adiali jail, where they have been undergoing their 10-, seven- and two-year terms, respectively, in Avenfield apartments reference.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2018