RIP, our beloved Edhi

Edhi buried after state funeral at National Stadium; top political leaders, services chiefs attend last rites

KARACHI: In his life, he was revered as a ‘living saint’, a ‘humble hero’ and ‘Mother Teresa of Pakistan’. The founder of the country’s largest charitable empire lived an obstinately ascetic life, slept in a windowless room furnished with just a bed, a sink and a hotplate. But in death, Abdul Sattar Edhi was given a state funeral attended by thousands of people.

Edhi, 92, died before midnight on Friday after a long battle with a kidney illness, triggering an outpouring of grief in the country for a man who transcended social, ethnic and religious divisions to help suffering humanity.



Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who mourned the loss of ‘a great servant of humanity’, announced a state funeral and a day of national mourning in honour of the man who owned just two sets of clothes, but who became the messiah for the country’s destitute and orphans and created a place in the hearts of millions of Pakistanis.

It was the country’s first state funeral since the death of military dictator General Ziaul Haq in 1988. Top political leaders, including President Mamnoon Hussain, provincial chief ministers and three services chiefs were present at the National Stadium in Karachi as a military jeep carrying Edhi’s coffin draped with national flag and covered with rose petals, drove in. A crowd of thousands of mourners broke through the military lines to help carry the coffin. The stadium reverberated with the slogans of Nara-e-Takbeer and Kalma-e-Shahadat.

Hundreds of police, paramilitary Rangers, military personnel and army commandoes were deployed to guard the venue as military helicopters flew overhead for aerial surveillance. At the funeral, the first row of mourners was reserved for the bereaved family and the country’s top political and military leadership.



Though the venue was changed from Memon Masjid to the National Stadium in anticipation of huge crowds of mourners, but the turnout was less than expected, perhaps due to the extraordinary security measures put in place for the funeral. The gates of the stadium were closed at 11.30am as was announced by a senior police officer of Karachi a day earlier.

Mourners passed through walkthrough gates and were frisked before they were allowed to enter the National Stadium to attend the last rites of the country’s most endearing icon. Much after the funeral prayers were offered, mourners could be seen trickling into the stadium.

“I came here from Quaidabad to attend the funeral of Edhi because I love and respect him for his matchless services to humanity,” Qasim Ali told The Express Tribune. “Edhi worked for the downtrodden all his life. Attending his funeral is the least we could do to pay our tributes,” shopkeeper Siraj Ahmed, 34, said outside the stadium.

After Maulana Ahmed Khan Niazi led the funeral prayers, the military fired a 19-gun salute and presented a guard of ho nour to Edhi. “As the state carriage leaves the stadium 19 guns salute begins- state funeral Edhi Sahib,” chief military spokesperson Lt Gen Asim Bajwa wrote on Twitter as Edhi’s coffin headed for Edhi Village on the edge of Karachi.



Attendees at the funeral included President Mamnoon Hussain, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, the chief ministers of Sindh and Punjab, federal and provincial ministers, top politicians and famed philanthropists. Army chief General Raheel Sharif, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, Naval Chief Admiral Zakaullah, Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, DG Rangers Maj Gen Bilal Akbar and IGP Sindh Allah Dino Khowaja were also in attendance.

Though it was the first state funeral since the death of General Ziaul Haq, but some people lamented the way the government had conducted Edhi’s funeral. “Saddest of all is the barrier between Edhi and ordinary people. The state continues to fail to understand Edhi and what his work was about,” said one Twitter user identified as Basma.

The military jeep drove Edhi’s coffin to the Edhi Village on Superhighway where he was to be laid to rest according to his will in a grave he had dug for himself more than two decades ago. A large number of security and private vehicles accompanied the coffin in a convoy.



A military band played out trumpet as Edhi’s coffin was lowered into the grave by renowned social worker Sarim Burney and Ramzan Chhipa. “It was Edhi Sahib who laid the foundation of social work in Pakistan,” Burney told The Express Tribune. “All of us are grateful to his services to the nation.”

Chhipa, on his part, said that Edhi was his inspiration. “I was impressed by Edhi Sahib’s immense contribution to philanthropy. He was my mentor, my inspiration,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2016.