Daily Times

Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have been freed from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody after courts granted them relief. Sharif has been under treatment for weeks and shifted to his Jati Umra house under the care of doctors. The prime issue for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the health of their leader and the cases against the Sharif family pending trials. The government spared both Sharif and his daughter from detention after the former prime minister was shifted to hospital in the wake of a significant drop in blood platelets. Later, a court of law released him on bail for eight weeks. Maryam Nawaz was brought from NAB lockup to hospital to attend her ailing father. Within days, she was granted bail from the Lahore High Court. Both, however, will remain on the exit control list. A medical board has recommended Sharif’s treatment abroad in the wake of his health complications. Hopefully, the government will allow his treatment abroad too. According to PML-N circles, their leader is too ill to meet anyone.

These blessings would not have suddenly showered on the Sharif family without the government’s support. This shows a fundamental change in the ‘no-leniency’ policy for ‘corrupt politicians’ by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The earlier policy reeked of personal grudge, no doubt, which made the arrests of politicians a matter of political victimisation. Bail and fair trial are the right of every person facing trial. Now, when Sharifs have been freed, the case of former president Asif Ali Zardari also needs consideration. He is in Adiyala Jail for NAB references pertaining to fake accounts and money laundering. In recent years, his health has not been well. Recently, his health deteriorated so much that the jail authorities had to bring him all the way from Rawalpindi to Islamabad’s PIMS hospital for a brief period. Court orders in hand, his daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari had to wrestle with the guards holding her back while her father watched by, ill and confined to bed. This is not an ideal scene for a democracy.

The Pakistan People’s Party has demanded the treatment of Zardari by his personal doctors. This is not a unique demand; the government has already allowed the same in the Nawaz case. Reportedly, Zardari has been suffering from heart and backbone problems in addition to many other diseases. He deserves relief and better treatment. Hopefully, the government will allow his medical trm to treat him. *