It is easy to set a cat among pigeons from the comforts of a pizza parlour. Ending the long-drawn-out spring break in the cushy Avenfield House to face the music (in Al-Azizia and foreign properties references) is an entirely different story.
\nThe last year-and-a-half have seen deposed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, indulging his audience back home with a long list of excuses to evade questions regarding his return to Pakistan. Some days, his media team complains of a political witch-hunt. On other occasions, his physician weaves a self-quarantine tale using the crutches of his vulnerability to coronavirus. Unluckily for him, Sharif was spotted strolling in a park sans any mask only two days later. In the meantime, his firebrand daughter, Maryam Nawaz, is busy adding new details to her father\u2019s grandiose fight for democracy; rattling on about the never-trodden path to salvation she is about to take.
\nWhat both of them have conveniently overlooked is the fact that Sharif has already been handed a seven years imprisonment. He is only enjoying London lights because of the state\u2019s willingness to provide him with the best care possible. Nevertheless, the eight weeks allowed to seek treatment for his \u201cmystery\u201d illness ended a while ago. The illness that could, in turn, only be validated when some controversial medical reports were confirmed by none other than Punjab\u2019s health minister. Although the reports were then verified by the present PM\u2019s Advisor on Health, Faisal Sultan, they were later written off as fabricated.
\nWhether he was feigning illness, the court order regarding his sentence suspension clearly stated that he needed to seek an extension in his bail by convincing the Punjab government with the necessary medical updates. No such reports have yet made it to Pakistan. What political insight has stopped the government in its pursuit of Mr Sharif, no one knows! Deafening silence prevails in all quarters and the state seems to have closed this chapter for now. The government\u2019s brigade of spokespersons had been claiming for months that it would bring the former prime minister back to Pakistan. A lot of noise has already been made about the extradition arrangement with the British authorities and the cancellation of Sharif\u2019s passport. But no deadlines have done the trick and the government is still on square one in its extradition conversation. This absolute complacency is merely giving the Sharif family leeway to secure its following on the ground. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is easy to set a cat among pigeons from the comforts of a pizza parlour. Ending the long-drawn-out spring break in the cushy Avenfield House to face the music (in Al-Azizia and foreign properties references) is an entirely different story. The last year-and-a-half have seen deposed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, indulging his audience back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-175158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial"},"yoast_head":"\n