Sharif humiliated so much he almost broke down: report

The four-hour stay of former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif on home soil was a long humiliation during which low-ranking police personnel...

The four-hour stay of former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif on home soil was a long humiliation during which low-ranking police personnel repeatedly shoved and jeered him, according to a Pakistani journalist, who travelled with the PML-N leader from London.

Sharif, who had arrived very confident, was soon depressed and bewildered at the shabby treatment accorded to him and virtually broke down at one point. Giving a detailed account of Sharif8217;s journey from London to Islamabad, Rauf Klasra of The News wrote in his paper today that Sharif was treated with total contempt at the Islamabad airport when low-ranking police officers were sent to talk to him.

A visibly depressed and unaided Nawaz was aggressively pushed inside an old bus parked outside the VIP Rawal Lounge and shifted to the plane and sent into exile. As the bus headed towards the PIA plane, about 100 commandos also started running after the bus laughing and cracking jokes, and returned only when the plane had taken off.

Sharif, who was very confident before landing at Islamabad that he would be received by thousands of his party workers and supporters, however, suffered one of the biggest humiliations of his life when an army officer of the National Accountability Bureau told him in the presence of mediamen that he was under arrest on charges of money-laundering.

This public announcement initially gave the impression that he was not being deported to Saudi Arabia and instead would now be kept in jail in Pakistan. But this was not to be, and minutes later the commandos surrounded him, the journalist wrote.

Before he could realise what was happening, commandos wearing black uniforms captured a bewildered Sharif and made him follow their instructions, as they aggressively started pushing him towards the immigration counter, which led to a scuffle between Sharif8217;s party workers and the commandos, Klasra wrote.

An emotional Pervez Rashid, a close aide of Sharif, could not hold back his tears when he saw the former prime minister being humiliated by these commandos. He shouted in a passionate voice 8220;show him respect, show him respect8221;. But, his emotional outburst fell on deaf ears.

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A visibly disturbed Sharif told these commandos that he should not be touched at all. He shouted furiously many times at them, after they tried to drag him. 8220;No one should dare touch me.8221;

Nawaz and his supporters stood their ground for a while but soon their 8220;resistance8221; was broken by these rude commandos, who even misbehaved with foreign and local journalists. Many foreign journalists loudly protested over this treatment.

An emotional Sharif told mediapersons in a choked voice how he was being treated although he had come only after the Supreme Court of Pakistan had allowed him to return. But, soon loud shouts started coming from the immigration section after Nawaz was once again whisked away towards the plane.

It was then that he and his supporters realised that he was actually being sent to Saudi Arabia and NAB8217;s announcement of his arrest was just a deception. This infuriated Sharif even more and he once again tried to resist but he was overpowered by the commandos, who once again pushed him towards an old bus to reach the plane, the journalist wrote.