Former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif spoke in a pre-recorded interview aired on Sunday about the trials and tribulations he and his family went through since his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, passed away.
He began the interview by speaking about how Maryam met her brothers and him after the death of her mother three years ago.
“I remember all those scenes, how my wife was on her deathbed and how cruelly we were treated — and those people who were making fun,” he said.
“I also remember, when I got to know that the sentence [in the Avenfield reference] was being announced on the 6th [of July, 2018], I said ‘my wife is very ill and is in a coma’. I don’t know what issue they had, but they didn’t listen to my plea.”
He said the purpose (of rushing the ruling) was that “Nawaz Sharif’s decision should be pronounced before the elections”, he said, adding: “I told Maryam they have announced the decision and we will go [back].”
Returning to Kulsoom, who passed away in his absence in the UK, he said: “We were trying to wake her up, you must have seen the videos. We then bid her farewell and went to Pakistan.
“What they did to us as soon as we landed is before you. Today, Maryam came after winning her case and proved the case and punishment were false.”
He asked: “Why did we suffer these 200-250 [court] appearances and why were precious five years of our lives wasted. Someone must be accountable, do I not have the right to ask this?
“Can’t I also ask that when Maryam came to meet me in Kot Lakhpat Jail, the jail authorities informed us that NAB had come and wanted to arrest her,” he said.
“This arrest was just done before my eyes to give me pain, otherwise there was no reason for this. Could this arrest not have happened at some other time?”
He then said he wanted to tell Imran Khan that such things happened during his rule “which never happened in any other time”.
He described one time when he was in Judge Arshad Malik’s court during which he was informed that his wife’s health had worsened and that she was in intensive care. “So I was worried and I — there was no way in court to ask someone to check — so I went to jail and in the room of the jail superintendent I asked him to allow me to talk [to family], but they told me ‘we can’t’.
“I pleaded with them to let me talk, but they didn’t allow it and took me to my cell and after three hours, they came and said ‘we are very sorry your wife has died’.”
He added: “So you can imagine what my condition was when I hear news of my wife’s death [while I was] in jail.”
He then said the bearers of the news were on their way to inform Maryam [who was also in Kot Lakhpat]. “I said ‘no, I will do it’. They reluctantly accepted and I went, and when I told her, she was in shock.”
He lamented that everyone knew his wife was ill. “She died and we were given this news in jail. These are events that are never forgotten. This loss can never be repaired or forgotten.”
The three-time premier said: “I think politics have their own place and there should never be cruelty on a person.”
He said now those who carried out the zulm were being “exposed and coming to light”.
“U-turns on everything, the nation is seeing it,” he added, referring to Imran.
Party leaders had earlier announced plans for Nawaz’s “heart-to-heart” — billed as a “never-before-seen candid conversation with the media”.
Yesterday, Maryam also posted several photographs of her sitting by his side during the interview.
Ahead of the broadcast, the PML-N’s official Twitter account posted a montage of Nawaz’s conversation, highlighting the former premier saying “absolutely not” to an offer of $5 billion, akin to what Imran Khan said in an interview with Axios.
