Mian Sharif [Nawaz Sharif's father] dies in Jeddah

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Mian Sharif dies in Jeddah

http://www.dawn.com/2004/10/30/top5.htm

By Arshad Sharif and Ashraf Mumtaz

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ISLAMABAD/LAHORE, Oct 29: Mian Mohammad Sharif, the father of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, expired in Jeddah on Friday. He was 85. Family sources told Dawn from Jeddah that Mian Sharif’s condition had deteriorated at about 8pm Saudi time (10pm PST). He was rushed to United Doctor’s Hospital in the port city where he was pronounced dead at 9pm.

His funeral prayers would be offered in Masjid-i-Haram, Makkah, on Saturday (today). Though the place of burial was yet to be decided, a source in the Sharif family said they had started making arrangements for the burial of the elder Sharif in his hometown Raiwind near Lahore in keeping with his last wishes.

Sharif family sources in Jeddah said that they had not yet decided about who would approach the Pakistan government for permission to bring the body to Pakistan. Mian Sharif, who was said to be the brain behind Main Nawaz Sharif’s policy decisions as prime minister, migrated to Lahore 68 years ago from Jati Umra, India, in 1936.

He set up a small steel business on the Brandreth Road which grew into a giant conglomerate in the shape of the Ittefaq group. FIA arrested him in a loan default case during Mian Manzoor Wattoo’s rule in the Punjab.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told a private TV channel that the government would consider granting permission if a request was received from the Sharif family. The entire Sharif family had been exiled to Saudi Arabia on Dec 10, 2000.

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It is sad that he died in a foriegn country, while his own land is occupied by illegal rulers.

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Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif hailed from Jati Umra on the Jandiala-Khadoor Sahib road, Amritsar, India. When Mohammed Sharif and his cousins visited Jati Umra for the first time after Partition, he was warmly welcomed by the villagers. Sharif, too, distributed sweets and made enquiries about old friends and neighbours. He also gave away his ancestral home that adjoined the gurdwara. This was in the 1960s. Since then, the family has visited the village thrice.

Recalling the pre-Partition days, former sarpanch (headman) Arjun Singh who was Sharif's immediate neighbour, said that only two Muslim families lived in the village. One of them was headed by Ramzan, a landless farmer who cultivated land on contract basis. He had seven sons, including the Pakistani premier's father, an ''active boy who often took part in the village's kabbadi competitions''. Singh, said, "Mohammed (Sharif's father) and I were bosom pals and studied in the same primary school in Sarli, a nearby village. We lived like brothers and participated in each others's family functions."

A few years before Partition, recalled another village elder Karnaji Singh, all of Ramzan's sons went to Lahore and established foundry units. But they never lost touch with the village, and young Nawaz Sharif, who went to Lahore for his secondary education, would always spend his holidays at Jati Umra.

Remembering the tumultuous months in early 1947, septuagenarian Massa Singh said it was at this time that the Sharif clan migrated to Lahore despite requests to the contrary from the villagers. The villagers say that Sharif was always eager to help them. In fact, his steel plant in Dubai provided employment to many villagers, said Genai Singh, who has recently returned home after working there for 10 years. He added that Sharief's Dubai-based relatives gave him both employment and a place to stay. Unfortunately, the steel plant closed down in the early nineties.

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Village Name: Jati Umra

District: Amritsar
Post Office: Vorowal 11 Km
Area in Hectares: 131
Population (2001): 1200
Main Road : Khadur Sahib-Jandiala
( Nearest)Railway Station/Town : Jandiala~6 Km

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The landless joint family of Mr Nawaz Sharif’s forefathers lived in this village before Partition in extreme poverty. The family had, however, shifted to West Punjab (now Pakistan) much before Partition, in search of greener pastures.

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the dictator will not allow the sons to come and join janaza, that is enlightened moderation!

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Inna lillah e wa inna ilahi rajioun

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Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhee rajiuoun.

But its a shame to see PML(N) and Nawaz sharif politicizing the death of his father. :nook: Govt. had indicated that they will allow the Sharif Brothers to attend the funeral and burial but the insisted that they refused to do so on grounds that their arrival should be unconditional. Way to go sharif’s :nook:

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Inna lillah e wa inna ilahi rajioun

May Allah rest his soul in peace.

The real power and the real prime minister behind the two tenures of Sharif has gone.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
Inna lillah e wa inna ilahi rajioun

May Allah rest his soul in peace.

The real power and the real prime minister behind the two tenures of Sharif has gone.
[/QUOTE]

Ditto. The legendary Abba jee.

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Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhee rajiuoun -- may his soul rest in peace.