Nawaz Sharif's daughter shares vile tweet on slain journalist Arshad Sharif, angers netizens

Islamabad, Oct 26: PML-N Vice President and former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz issued an apology and deleted a tweet regarding slain journalist Arshad Sharif after the netizens called it "insensitive and shameful".

 

 

Sharif was shot dead in Kenya allegedly by the local police on Sunday night, with an official police statement later expressing “regrets on the unfortunate incident” and saying an investigation was underway. Initially, Kenyan media quoted the local police as saying Sharif was shot dead by police in a case of “mistaken identity”.

 

 

Arshad Sharif, who was living in hiding after allegedly receiving death threats for his critical reporting, was shot dead by law enforcement in Kenya on October 24. Arshad, who worked for numerous media outlets, was an outspoken critic of Pakistan's government.

 

Soon after the news surfaced Maryam, retweeted a tweet that claimed that Sharif, during his lifetime, had mocked the circumstances of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif's mother's death only to meet a similar end himself. She retweeted the post with the caption, "This is a lesson for mankind that we must all imbibe." It had the image of Arshad's coffin.

 

Reacting to Maryam's now deleted comment, Sharif's widow Javeria Siddique said: "Have some shame Maryam and fear God."

 

 

Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas said that if Maryam could not console Sharif's family then at the very least she should not hurt the feelings of his relatives and friends at this time.

 

 

"This is insensitive, heartless, condemnable and shameful to say the least," remarked journalist Anas Mallick.

 

 

Even politicians associated with the ruling coalition of which Maryam's PML-N is a major part said the tweet was uncalled for.

PPP MPA Sharmila Faruqi called on Maryam to "be the bigger person [and] forgive people for their wrongdoings to you. It’s not easy but gives you that much needed closure and peace."

After receiving backlash, Maryam, said that she was "undoing the tweet" and apologised for the "hurt it may have caused to the aggrieved which was never my intention".

 

 

"My tweet was not aimed at mocking someone but about learning our lessons from the past," she said.