LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to release on parole the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz on the death of his mother.

Talking to Hum News, Minister for Prisons Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chauhan said that release on parole is the right of Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz.

He said that the government would not politicize the last rites of Begum Shamim Akhtar.

It may be recalled that the mother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has passed away today.

According to PML-N leader Ata Tarar, Nawaz Sharif's mother Shem Akhtar has passed away in London. He was 90 years old. She had been ill for some time and was confined to a wheelchair.

PML-N sources said that no decision has been taken yet on whether to bring Shamim Akhtar's body to Pakistan or not while Shahbaz Sharif is currently in jail.

Other leaders, including former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, offered condolences and sympathy to Nawaz Sharif.

Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that we share in your grief and may Allah Almighty grant patience to the Sharif family.