INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Nawaz Sharif claimed that Maryam had no connection with politics, yet dragged into court (File)Islamabad: Nawaz
Sharif today warned that those who dragged his daughter Maryam to Pakistan's anti-corruption court in the Panama papers case will bear the
consequences of their actions.Three corruption cases were launched last year against the deposed Pakistan prime minister and his family on
their posh properties in London which were allegedly bought in 1990s when he served as premier. Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam, sons Hassan
and Hussain and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar are co-accused in the Avenfield case filed by the National Accountability Bureau.Addressing the
media outside the accountability court, Nawaz Sharif claimed that Maryam, considered to be his heir apparent, had no connection with
politics, but yet she is being dragged into court cases.Nawaz Sharif, 68, said that it was "painful" for him to see his daughter testifying
as an accused in the witness box."What could be worst than dragging her into court out of revenge and spite," he said. "In this ruthless
game, you are even involving our daughters
Don't choose a path which makes it impossible to return from," he told his detractors
"Everyone will have to bear the consequence of this behaviour," the three-time prime minister, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court
last year, said. "Maryam has no connection to the era for which we are being punished
They are questioning her about Gulf Steel
She was only a year old at the time," he was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.Earlier, Maryam, 44, recorded her statement in the
Avenfield case.The accountability court had prepared a questionnaire for Nawaz Sharif, Maryam and her husband to answer as their final words
in the Avenfield case. He read out his answers in court during the last two hearings
Maryam also blamed strained civil-military relations for the outcome of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report.Both father and daughter
have maintained that the members of the investigation team probing the Sharif family were impartial and had been influenced by others to
manipulate the outcome.Maryam, while recording her statement, raised multiple objections against the JIT that had investigated her family's
business dealings on the orders of the Supreme Court.Maryam termed the inclusion of two officials of intelligence agencies in JIT
"inappropriate" and questioned the competence of the entire team.She brought to the court's notice that retired Brigadier Muhammad Nauman
Saeed, a director in Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was also "a member of the committee that had probed the issue of Dawn Leaks, which
had intensified civil and military tension." Maryam testified that neither the JIT report nor the response to requests seeking mutual legal
assistance (MLA) purportedly sent by the JIT to the UK and Saudi Arabia were produced before the court.When quizzed over the establishment,
running and sale proceeds of Gulf Steel Mills, Maryam said that she was hardly one year old when the mill was established
She also said she had no information about the operations of the mill and how its shares were disposed of.Last month, the Supreme Court, in
a landmark judgement, declared Nawaz Sharif ineligible to hold public office for life, ending the political future of the three-time premier
ahead of this year's general elections in July.The former prime minister was disqualified to hold the office of the prime minister by the
Supreme Court on July 28, 2017 in the Panama Papers case
He was disqualified for not being "honest and righteous" as he failed to declare in 2013 a salary he got from the company of his son in the
UAE.In February, the apex court also disqualified Nawaz Sharif as the head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
