Begum Kalsoom Nawaz
Begum Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif (Urdu: بیگم كلثوم نواز شريف)
(29 March 1950 – 11 September 2018) was a Pakistani politician who had been the
first lady of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms; from 1990 to 1993, 1997
to 1999 and then from 2013 to 2017. She was the President of Pakistan Muslim League
(Nawaz) from 1999 to 2002.
Early and personal life
Kulsoom was born on 29 March 1950 in
Lahore into a Kashmiri family. According to other sources, she was born on 22
March 1950 to Hafiz Butt.
She attended Islamia College and
graduated from the Forman Christian College in Lahore.She received a master's
degree in Urdu from the University of the Punjab in 1970. She also received a
PhD in philosophy.
Kulsoom had two sisters and a brother.
From her maternal side, she was the granddaughter of the wrestler The Great
Gama. She married Nawaz Sharif, the three-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, in
April 1971. The couple have four children: Maryam, Asma, Hassan and Hussain.
Career
Spouse of the Prime Minister of
Pakistan
First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill
Biden host a poetry recital in the honor of Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif on 23 October
2013
Kulsoom became the first lady of
Pakistan for the first time after her husband, Nawaz Sharif, became Prime
Minister of Pakistan on 1 November 1990 when his party, Islami Jamhoori
Ittehad, won 104 of 207 seats contested in the 1990 Pakistani general election.
His first term as Prime Minister ended in July 1993.
She became first lady of Pakistan for
the second time after Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister of Pakistan when his
party, Pakistan Muslim League (N), won the 1997 Pakistani general election. His
second term as Prime Minister was ended when then Chief of Army Staff General
Pervez Musharraf led a military coup d'état against him on 12 October 1999.
Kulsoom was arrested by the Pakistan Army Corps of Military Police and
immediately shifted to her local residence.[6] According to her daughter,
Maryam Nawaz, Kulsoom "dauntlessly challenged the usurper when a lot of
men backed out". Nawaz Sharif named his wife as the President of Pakistan
Muslim League in 1999.
In 2000, she led a public rally from
Lahore to Peshawar to gather the public support for the PML-N. Soon after
leaving her residence, her car was surrounded by the police and she was
detained.
She remained president of the PML-N
until 2002.
She became the first lady of Pakistan
for the third time after Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister of Pakistan when
his party, Pakistan Muslim League (N), won the 2013 Pakistani general election.
Political career
Kulsoom was elected to the National
Assembly of Pakistan for the first time from NA-120 (Lahore-III) as a candidate
of PML (N) in by-polls held in September 2017. She secured 59,413 votes and
defeated Yasmin Rashid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The NA-120 seat fell vacant
after her husband, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified by the Supreme Court of
Pakistan in the Panama Papers case.
She was unable to take oath as member
of the National Assembly due to her illness.
She was known for maintaining a low
profile.
Death and funeral
Nawaz was diagnosed with lymphoma in
August 2017 and received treatment in London. She underwent several sessions of
chemotherapy and radiotherapy during her illness.
In June 2018, Nawaz suffered cardiac
arrest and was placed on a ventilator. On 10 September 2018, she was readmitted
to the hospital and was put on the ventilator. She died a painful death on 11
September 2018 at the age of 68 in London while both her husband Nawaz Sharif
and daughter Maryam were serving jail terms. Her husband and daughter were
granted timed-parole in order to attend her funeral.
On 13 September 2018, a funeral prayer
for Nawaz was held in a Regent's Park mosque in London. Following which her
body was flown from the Heathrow Airport to Lahore on a Pakistan International
Airlines flight. On 14 September 2018, in Lahore, a funeral prayer led by
Maulana Tariq Jameel was offered at Sharif Medical City around 5:30 pm PKT
before she was laid to rest in Jati Umra.
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