Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has been featured on The New York Times list of 11 powerful women who the publication's correspondents wrote about in 2017.
Maryam along with 10 other women from around the world have been chosen for the article run under the NYT's
Saturday Profile section, which "aims to bring to readers people around
the world they probably have never heard of, but who have led
interesting lives and done extraordinary things, or perhaps recently
gone through a remarkable experience".
The curated list references to the NYT article published on October 27, "In Pakistani Fray, Maryam Sharif Is on the Edge of Power, or Prison", that focuses on "how she emerged as the right hand of her father" while also facing corruption charges.
“I
am undeterred, unperturbed, fighting,” she is quoted as saying while
"constantly clicking on a diamond-and-sapphire prayer counter" in the
article.
Other powerful women on the NYT
list include Henda Ayari, a French citizen of North African heritage
and anti-Salafist activist who accused a prominent Oxford professor of
raping her; Yu Xiuhua, one of China’s most read poets; and Manal
al-Sharif, the "Saudi woman who got behind the wheel and never looked
back", among others.
Corruption charges
Maryam, as well as her father Nawaz Sharif and her husband
retired Capt Mohammad Safdar, are facing a trial in an accountability
court on a reference pertaining to the Avenfield flats in London. The
case was filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
on the orders of the Supreme Court in its Panama judgement on July 28.
The
daughter of the former premier has been vocal on social media about
Nawaz Sharif's trial, the verdict that disqualified him, and the
references filed against him, often openly referring it to his ouster as
"victimization".
Maryam also led the campaign for the
NA-120 by-elections on behalf of her mother Kulsoom Nawaz who was
undergoing medical treatment in London. The National Assembly seat was
left vacant by Nawaz Sharif's ouster in the Panama case verdict.
"Not
only have NA-120 voters rejected the Supreme Court's decision
[disqualifying Nawaz Sharif], but also rejected the court's spokesmen,"
Maryam Nawaz Sharif had said while speaking to supporters after securing
victory for PML-N in the by-elections.
"It is as if
Nawaz Sharif himself was leading the campaign," PML-N Senator Asif
Kirmani had remarked about the public response to the PML-N campaign led
by Maryam in the constituency.
