Shahbaz Sharif to lead 'peaceful' rally to receive Nawaz, Maryam

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif will lead a rally to the Lahore airport to receive former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, who are set to return from London on July 13.

"Preparations to give a historic reception to Nawaz and Maryam are underway. Shahbaz will lead the PML-N rally on July 13," PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb was quoted by The Dawn, as saying,

"Tens of thousands of people will gather in Lahore to welcome Mian Sahib and Maryam Bibi. It will be a peaceful rally," she added.

Aurangzeb asserted that the PML-N did not target state institutions, and Nawaz and Maryam were returning to Pakistan just to face the verdict and serve their punishment.

"We are against the mindset that does not care about the constitution and gives no respect to the vote," she noted.

On Tuesday, Shahbaz chaired a meeting comprising senior PML-N leaders and reviewed the arrangements for Nawaz's smooth return to Pakistan.

After the meeting, Senator Mushahid Husain Syed said despite Nawaz's wife Kulsoom being critically ill, the former took a "brave decision" to perform his "national duty."

He further said that Nawaz's return was a "matter of life and death for the PML-N," as per the report.

On July 6, Nawaz was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of eight million pounds was slapped on him in the Avenfield reference case, while Maryam was sentenced to seven years of jail and fined two million pounds by the accountability court.

Nawaz's son-in-law Captain (retired) Muhammad Safdar was sentenced to one year of imprisonment. He was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after he appeared at a PML-N rally in Rawalpindi.

He was presented in an accountability court in Islamabad by the NAB before being shifted to Adiala Jail.