KARACHI: The country’s top civilian and military leadership including President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, the political leadership as well as thousands of mourners on Saturday attended the funeral prayers of the country’s charity king, Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi at the National Stadium Karachi, after which the great philanthropist was laid to rest at the Edhi Village followed by 19-gun salute and military guard of honour.
A national day of mourning was announced throughout Pakistan on Saturday and the national flag flew at half-mast on the demise of Maulana Edhi, an icon of social service and a symbol of simplicity, who passed away in a Karachi’s hospital at the age of 88 due to respiratory and renal failure a day earlier.
Sindh and other provincial government’s have announced three days of mourning from Saturday till Monday on the demise of Edhi. Traders in Karachi announced to close markets for two days in mourning while the Karachi city administration closed down all public recreational places including the zoo and Safari Park for three days as a sign of mourning and to pay their homage to the late philanthropist and humanitarian.
A state funeral had been arranged for Edhi’s final journey as his body, wrapped in the green national flag, was given a 19-gun salute, military guard of honour, carried on a state carriage to his final resting place from the national stadium where the country’s top civilian and military leadership laid floral wreaths on his grave while a final guard of honour was presented besides prayers and other religious rituals.
Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Services Chiefs of the Pakistan Navy and Air Force, Commander 5 Corps, DG Rangers Sindh Gen. Bilal Akbar, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, Corps Commander Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, Maulana Edhi’s son Faisal Edhi and thousands of mourners had gathered at the National Stadium Karachi to offer the Namaz-e-Janaza of Maulana Edhi, which was led-by Maulana Ahmed Khan Niazi.
Strict security arrangements due to the presence of the country’s top military and civilian leadership prevented thousands of mourners from attending the funeral prayer of Edhi as people had been asked to come to the venue before 11:30 am due to security reasons while hundreds more could not attend the funeral prayers due to the closure of the road leading to the National Stadium and lack of public transport from down town city areas to the place of funeral prayers.
A state carriage draped in the national flag carried the body of the humanitarian icon to Edhi Village on the Super Highway in a convoy of the Pakistan Army, Navy, Rangers, Sindh Police, and Edhi Foundation’s ambulances where he was laid to rest in a grave prepared by Edhi himself in 1990.
Director General Rangers Sindh Major General Bilal Akbar, Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force officials, Sindh Police officers and the civilian leadership and family members of Maulana Edhi, including Faisal Edhi, were present at the time of the burial of the Maulana, whose body was carried to his grave by the Pak Army’s Jawans and a final gun-salute and guard of honour was presented while two Ulema offered prayers.
Following the state funeral, common people, the Edhi Foundation’s volunteers and employees and government functionaries were allowed to pay homage to the late social worker and humanitarian. People not only prayed at the grave of Maulana Edhi but also chanted slogans in favour of the Pakistan Army for according a state funeral to the late humanitarian.
Earlier the body of Maulana Edhi was taken to the Edhi Foundation’s headquarters in Mithadar from the Edhi Morgue at Sohrab Goth after a bath and after his family saw his face for the last time. The Pakistan Navy, Sindh Police and Rangers shifted his body to the National Stadium via the Lyari Expressway for the funeral prayers.
Strict security arrangements had been made by the Sindh Police and Sindh Rangers as thousands of security personnel had been deployed throughout the city to ensure the protection of common people as well as VIPs, who flew from Islamabad and Lahore to Karachi to pay homage to Maulana Edhi.
Civilian and military bomb disposal squads swept the National Stadium and its surroundings and military helicopters flew in the area to keep an eye on the situation while snipers had been posted at elevated positions around the venue of the funeral prayers.
Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai said in January that she had nominated Edhi for the Nobel Peace Prize 2016 as she believed he was the most deserving person.
“Edhi’s services and sacrifices are unparalleled. He has been serving humanity irrespective of class, creed or gender,” she had told reporters in Birmingham.
Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf said Abdus Sattar Edhi deserved a Nobel Peace Prize during his life.
He further said Edhi was more deserving of the Nobel Prize than Mother Teresa and added that his death was a great loss to Pakistan.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Saturday expressed her deep sense of grief over the death of Abdus Sattar Edhi and praised him for dedicating his entire life to the service of mankind.
She conveyed her heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and Edhi Foundation.
The final resting place of Maulana Edhi had been selected by Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi himself in 1990 when he made arrangements for his own and his wife’s burial near the mausoleum of one Munawar Ali Baig at the Edhi Village, who was a long-lasting companion of Maulana Edhi.
A grave was already dug at the Edhi village, which was given final touches on Saturday morning before the arrival of the Maulana’s body and following funeral prayers, he was laid to rest at the grave he had prepared for himself, the Maulana’s son Faisal Edhi added.
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