Nawaz, Maryam parole period extended for Kulsoom Nawaz funeral

LAHORE: The Punjab government has extended the parole period of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Safar for three more days so that they could attend the funeral of Kulsoom Nawaz.

On Tuesday, the Sharif family members were released on 12-hour parole for the funeral. However, political observers were of the view that the parole period would be extended till the last rituals of former First Lady are performed in Lahore.

The spokesperson of Punjab Home Ministry told Geo News that the extension will start from 12:00 tonight.

Kulsoom Nawaz died of cancer in London on Tuesday, two months after her husband and daughter returned to Pakistan and were immediately jailed for corruption.

Sharif had travelled home in a bid to rally support for his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party days before a bitterly fought general election.

Handout pictures released by PML-N on Wednesday showed Sharif and his daughter Maryam aboard a plane after their release late Tuesday and arriving in the city of Lahore, where the former first lady’s funeral will be held.

The pair "have initially been released for 12 hours to attend the funeral but the release can be extended by the home department", an official at Rawalpindi central jail told AFP.

Local media reported the funeral would be held on Friday, with their parole likely to last until after the service concluded.

Sharif’s wife Nawaz, 68, had been at her husband’s side throughout his decades-long political career, which saw him elected prime minister of Pakistan three times.

She was diagnosed with lymphoma in August last year and had been receiving treatment at a private hospital in London for months.

Sharif was ousted from his third premiership by the Supreme Court a month before his wife’s diagnosis.

Conspiracy theories claiming that Nawaz was actually healthy, and that the Sharifs were faking her illness to gain sympathy, swirled in the final weeks of acrimonious election campaign.