Nawaz not to accompany mother’s body for health issues

LONDON: Former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will not be able to accompany his mother's body to Pakistan, ex-finance minister Ishaq Dar stated here on Sunday.

Speaking to the media outside Avenfield flats here after Nawaz Sharif’s mother Begum Shamim Akhtar passed away, Dar said Nawaz Sharif has been advised by doctors not to travel because of his ailing health and the ongoing treatment. Begum Shamim Akhtar passed away at 89 in London Sunday afternoon.

Family said she developed a severe chest infection and was suffering from an advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease. Her condition deteriorated over the last week and she could not regain her health due to old age, shared the sources.

The deceased was receiving treatment at a London hospital and her body is currently kept at the Regent’s Park Mosque. The body was shifted on Sunday night after the police and the coroner completed the paper work at the Avenfield flats where she was staying with Nawaz Sharif.

It will take around four days to send the body to Pakistan. Begum Shamim Akhtar’s funeral prayers will be offered at the London Islamic Centre but a date and time has not been decided yet.

On Monday, the family will speak to the mosque management and an agreement will be made on the funeral arrangements keeping in view the Covid-19 guidelines. The news of his mother's demise has devastated Nawaz Sharif, family sources said.

The Sharif family will make arrangements to transport the body to Pakistan for burial once the Coroner issues the death certificate At present, three airlines have been contacted by the Sharif family to transport the body back to Pakistan, as the PIA offers no direct flights from London to Lahore. It’s understood that the body may be sent through an air ambulance for burial in Jati Umra.

News desk adds: PML-N Information Secretary Azma Zahid Bukhari said: “Mian Nawaz Sharif will not come to Pakistan because he is suffering from kidney problem and is in hospital. Doctors say he is not fit for travel.