Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif

Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif (Urdu: كلثوم نواز شريف; born: 1950—) PhD^{[citation needed]} , is the wife of 12th Prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif,^[1] and was the First Lady of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1990 till 1993 and from 1996 till 1998.

  Academia

Kalsoom was born in Lahore in a respectable Kashmiri family. Her father, Dr. Hafiz Butt, was a physician who was a well known^{[citation needed]} and honourable medical figure^{[citation needed]} . Kalsoom Nawaz was educated at Islamia College where she received her B.A.^{[citation needed]} in Elementary education in 1970. She as well attended the well-known Forman Christian College University, and received B.A. in Urdu literature in 1972^{[citation needed]} . Kalsoom Nawaz also holds an M.A. in Urdu poetry from Punjab University with a distinction^{[citation needed]} . In 1976, Kalsoom completed her doctoral thesis where her thesis written on "Urdu Shayeri mein Fitrat Nigari 1857" (English: The Western Art of Poetry in Urdu language) from Punjab University. Her thesis contained the fundamental work on Western poetry and its influence to Urdu language and poetry^{[citation needed]} . She is also the grand-daughter of the world famous and invincible wrestler, the Great Gama (maternally)^{[citation needed]} , who was also of Kashmiri origin.

  Politics

Kalsoom avoided herself to involved in the national politics working for the advancement of women in Pakistan^{[further explanation needed]}. During the years that her husband, Nawaz Sharif, twice became the prime minister or even led the opposition against the then arch-rival Benazir Bhutto, Kalsoom avoided getting involved in politics herself.

However, this was changed when Chief of Army Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf led a military coup d'état against her husband on 12 October 1999. Kalsoom was arrested by female member of Pakistan Army Corps of Military Police and immediately shifted to her local resident unlike her husband who was taken to Adiala Jail. Kalsoom, unlike most parties, bluntly called Musharraf an usurper^{[according to whom?]}. Sharif named Kalsoom as the President of Pakistan Muslim League in 1999. Her outspoken criticism of the military authorities resulted in angry attacks from the government and alienated some sections of the Pakistan Muslim League. For instance, she once complained that many elements in the PML have not supported her, but rather opted for a policy of non-confrontation with the army. For months before the exile of Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia, Kalsoom built a momentum for political activity. It paid off in the form of putting an end to the agony of her husband in jail.^{[citation needed]}