Present times harsher than martial law: Nawaz

LONDON: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that he is being singled out for the so-called accountability while real hardened criminals and law-breakers have no one to ask questions.

Speaking to media outside the Harley Street Clinic here where his ailing wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz was admitted for cancer treatment, Nawaz Sharif said that the current times were unpresented in the sense that even military doctors’ rule wasn’t as harsh as now. Nawaz Sharif, when told that the National Accountability Court has refused his application for exemption from appearance for one week, said that he will return to Pakistan on Sunday to comply with the legal procedure although he would have liked to spend a week in London with Begum Kulsoom Nawaz who is undergoing cancer treatment.

Nawaz Sharif said that he came to the hospital straight from airport with his daughter Maryam Nawaz to see Kulsoom Nawaz who has been admitted at the Harley Street clinic. Kulsoom Nawaz has not been well in recent weeks and has been brought regularly to the hospital for treatment.

Nawaz Sharif said that whats happening now didn’t happen even during the worst of times. He referred to his disqualification “for not taking salary from his son”, his removal as party head, his disqualification for life and focus of accountability on him and his family as examples of the “selective justice”.

“The target is only person and that’s Nawaz Sharif,” he commented.

He said that situation wasn’t this bad even during military regimes “where whenever someone faced hardships, there were courts to give relief but not anymore”. Nawaz Sharif said that he was being treated completely unfairly. He referred to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and said that he was sitting abroad and courts did nothing about him. He said that there was a backlog of 1.8 million cases in courts, adding that Chief Justice Saqib Nisar has started visiting provincial capitals.

Nawaz Sharif also said on Friday that the chemotherapy treatment of his ailing wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz has ended. Nawaz said that the doctors have told him that surgery will be done if cancer reappears. The former prime minister said that the results will be compared after radiotherapy to ascertain whether surgical procedure is required or not.

Nawaz Sharif further said that prayers are needed for Kulsoom Nawaz and every ailing person’s speedy recovery.

In an exclusive conversation with Geo News on Thursday, Nawaz said that Begum Kulsoom's treatment was underway and six chemotherapy sessions had been done, however, the recently conducted positron emission tomography (PET) and gallium scan had pointed out cancer growth in the patient's body.

Nawaz and his daughter Maryam had arrived in London on Wednesday night to visit Begum Kulsoom. He is expected to meet prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday and return to Pakistan on Sunday.