Shehbaz appeals people to hold Quran Khawani for Begum Kulsoom in their areas
The former first lady was laid to rest at Jati Umra on Friday
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Only Sharif family members will participate in the Rasm-e-Qul for the benefit of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz to be offered tomorrow (Sunday) from Asr to Maghrib.
Former Punjab CM and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif appealed those who wished to participate in the Rasm-e-Qul for late former first lady to organise Quran Khawani and Dua (prayers) in their respected areas.
The PML-N president also thanked political leaders, party workers and people for attending the funeral prayers of his late sister-in-law.
On the other hand, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari will also meet Nawaz Sharif tomorrow along with a party delegation to offer condolences on his wife’s demise.
On Friday, the former first lady was laid to rest in Jati Umra, next to the resting place of her father-in-law Mian Sharif and brother-in-law Abbas Sharif.
Her funeral prayers, led by religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil, were offered at Sharif Medical City, Raiwind.
PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, his son-in-law Captain (r) Safdar along with party leaders and thousands of supporters attended the funeral. Delegations from other political parties including PTI, PPP, MQM-P and PSP were also in attendance.
Prolonged battle against cancer
On September 11, Begum Kulsoom died at the age of 68, after losing to a long battle with cancer at London’s Harley Street Clinic.
Kulsoom was born in 1950 in Lahore to a Kashmiri family. She attended Islamia College and graduated from Forman Christian College in Lahore. She also received a Master’s degree in Urdu from the University of the Punjab in 1970.
She married Nawaz Sharif in 1971, and served as the president of the PML-N from 1999 to 2002. Kulsoom had remained the first lady of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms from 1990-1993, 1997-1999 and 2013-2017.
After the disqualification of Sharif from Supreme Court last year, Kulsoom Nawaz was given party ticket to contest by-election from NA-120 while she was under treatment in London. She was elected to Lahore’s NA-120 constituency in a by-poll against Dr Yasmin Rashid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) among other candidates. However; she was unable to return due to her illness.
Her election campaign was run by her daughter, Maryam Nawaz.
Kulsoom was diagnosed with lymphoma last year, barely a month after Nawaz was removed from office by the Supreme Court, which ordered him to face trial in an anti-corruption court. PML-N leaders and family members have been arriving at their residence to extend condolences.
