Thousands bid last farewell to JJ

KARACHI: More than a week after he was killed along with 46 other passengers in a plane crash in Havelian, pop star-turned-evangelist Junaid Jamshed was laid to rest on Thursday on the premises of one of Karachi’s largest seminaries, Darul Uloom Korangi.

Before the burial, the city witnessed a huge gathering at the AKD ground where thousands of mourners, including senior military officials, politicians, celebrities, sportsmen and showbiz stars, had turned up to attend his funeral prayers.

Prominent Tableeghi Jamaat preacher Maulana Tariq Jamil led the funeral prayers. In his sermon before the funeral prayers, Maulana Jamil focused on life after death. “It’s a huge gathering. People in such large numbers come out only at the funerals of kings.”

Jamshed was close to Allah, that is why Allah has arranged such a huge gathering for his funeral, Maulana Jamil said. “His memory brings tears to my eyes, but we have returned him where he belonged, to Allah.”

Jamshed’s mortal remains arrived in Karachi on Wednesday from Islamabad on board a C-130 plane. His remains were identified on Monday with the help of dental and facial X-rays.

In the fatal crash, Jamshed’s wife Nayha, who was accompanying him as part of a women’s Jamaat in Chitral, had also lost her life. Nayha’s body was shifted to her native city of Lahore.

Jamshed, who started his career in the early nineties as one of Pakistan’s most loved pop star turned to religion in the early 2000.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2016.