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From Lahore wedding of Maryam's son to Shehbaz's Davos move for Trump, Pakistan's Sharifs under fire at home
Flak from Lahore to Davos: Pak Punjab minister says, “People say Maryam's outfits drew attention away from the bride. That was because Maryam is beautiful.”
The Sharif family continues to be a force in Pakistan despite all the crests and troughs in its relationship with the all-powerful army, but its recent actions have drawn significant scorn — ranging from a wedding at their lavish home to the government's stance on a global stage.
Their party PML-N's government of Pakistan's Punjab province has come to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's rescue after the family faced taunts over lavish spending at the wedding of her son.
Maryam is the daughter of family patriarch Nawaz Sharif, and a niece of PM Shehbaz Sharif, hence her son Junaid Safdar is seen as the scion of the clan.
Pak Punjab officials have said “everyone spends money on such occasions, depending on their financial condition", as per news agency PTI.
The wedding of Junaid, who is divorced once, with a ruling PML-N leader's granddaughter, Shanzeh Ali, was held last week at the palatial Jati Umra Raiwind in Lahore. This mansion is the residence of the Sharif family, named after their pre-Partition village in India, Jati Umra.
It came under severe criticism on social media for being a “royal wedding”. Chief of Defence Forces Field Martial Asim Munir also attended the event. His pictures, especially with former PM Nawaz Sharif, went viral. In one picture, Munir is standing and a PML-N minister can be seen requesting Nawaz to stand up as a mark of respect for the general, but he seems reluctant, said reports.
Maryam Nawaz faced comments over her donning expensive outfits and offering dozens of dishes while her state government has called for a ban on more than one dish at weddings.
‘Maryam is naturally very beautiful’
Responding to critics, Pak Punjab information minister Azma Bukhari said that the family, especially Maryam Nawaz, was being subjected to undue criticism.
"The people claim that Maryam's choice of outfits at her son's wedding drew attention away from the bride. It happened because Maryam is naturally very beautiful; and whenever she appears in public, people are naturally drawn to her," Bukhari said.
"Allah has made her beautiful... Some women are extremely beautiful, like Maryam; some are like me; and some do not look beautiful even after using filters," she said.
She also targeted jailed former PM Imran Khan, currently in jail, for donning a sherwani at his second marriage in 2015 with Reham Khan. "Why was there no criticism then?" she said.
The minister further said, "Everyone spends on a wedding according to one's financial condition."
‘Salt in wounds’
But journalist and political commentator Mujeebur Rehman told news agency PTI that the objections were justified. “The issue is not the wedding — the issue is power. Those who run the state, collect taxes from the public, and make national decisions are not ordinary citizens,” he said.
"Their lifestyle becomes a public matter. That is why, across the world, rulers are questioned: ‘Where did this money come from? How was this level of spending possible?’" he added.
He said when a Maryam has said on the record that she has no businesses or property, then billions of rupees spent on the celebration point to an open secret. "In a country like Pakistan, the king-like weddings of ruling families are not just celebrations — they become salt rubbed into the wounds of the public," he said.
Personal to political: Brickbats over Gaza board too
And comments over private functions are not the only thing dogging the Sharifs.
PM Shehbaz Sharif faced allegations of being “morally incorrect” as he joined a group of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, to sign the charter for US President Donald Trump's ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza on Thursday. Sharif, known for singing praises of the US leader, touted the board as a significant diplomatic move.
But the signing, on the margins of the World Economic Forum, triggered a political firestorm in Islamabad, with opposition parties labeling Shehbaz Sharif's move as non-transparent and “morally indefensible”.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the party of jailed ex-PM Imran Khan, said matters of such international significance require “full transparency and inclusive consultation".
It called for a national referendum on it.
While expressing support for the Palestinian people, the party's leaders noted it would not accept any plans that go against the wishes of the people of Gaza or Palestine as a whole.
Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and chief of the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), denounced the move as “morally incorrect and indefensible”.
(inputs from PTI, Reuters)
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