Saw concern, apprehension in father's eyes: Maryam on JIT appearance

LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Tuesday said that she "saw her father's eyes filled with concern and apprehension over her appearance before the Panama case joint investigation team (JIT)".

The investigation team, constituted by the Supreme Court to probe businesses and financial dealings of Sharif family, has summoned the first daughter on Wednesday.

Maryam, in a series of tweets on Tuesday said that her father has been through testing times in more than 30 years of his political career, acing out his rivals.

"Yet as an affectionate and protective father, I saw his eyes filled with concern and apprehensions over his daughter's appearance before JIT," she stated on social media.

Maryam Nawaz summoned by Panama case JIT on July 5

Maryam will be the sixth member of the Sharif family to be summoned by the JIT

She added that she reassured her father and told him that "I am your daughter, trained by you, [I] will neither cower down, nor yield to pressure and nothing will deter me from taking up the cudgels against transgression and injustice".

The first daughter also said that she would appear before the investigation team tomorrow and follow the rule of law like her father has always done.

'No moral grounds for Maryam's appearance before JIT'

Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif said there were no moral grounds for summoning of Maryam Nawaz by the JIT.

"Our culture teaches us to respect women," he said, adding, "Women in the Sharif family were also subjected to mistreatment during the unconstitutional government of Pervez Musharraf".

He, however, said that they admit the investigation team's privilege to summon a person before it as a witness.

"Those giving examples of late Benazir Bhutto incarcerated our father and did not even provide him with medicines during detention," Shahbaz said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s elder son Hussain Nawaz appeared before the JIT for the sixth time.

Maryam will be the sixth member of the Sharif family to appear before the high-profile probe team, formed on May 6 in light of the Supreme Court's April 20 judgment in the Panama Papers case.