Tag: Funeral

  • Nawaz welcome to attend mother’s funeral in Lahore, govt says

    Nawaz welcome to attend mother’s funeral in Lahore, govt says

    The government on Tuesday dismissed the impression of placing restrictions on the arrival of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his sons — Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz — and former finance minister Ishaq Dar for the funeral of Begum Shamim Akhtar, the mother of Sharif brothers who passed away in London on Sunday.

    Nawaz has been living in London since November last year when he was released on conditional medical bail for his treatment abroad. Dar, on the other hand, has taken self-exile in the United Kingdom after his removal from the post of Finance Minister in 2017 following the emergence of allegations of accumulation of assets beyond means against him. Both of them are wanted back home in multiple cases of graft and abuse of power

    Speculations arose after the sudden demise of Akhtar, who had travelled to London in February to live with her son, whether or not Nawaz and Dar will return to attend the funeral.

    Later on Sunday, Nawaz’s daughter and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz, in a tweet, said she had advised her father not to return because of what she claimed was the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s vendetta against the Sharif family.

    “They are welcome to come to Pakistan and attend the funeral,” Minister for Information Shibli Faraz said on Tuesday.

    In a tweet, Faraz warned the opposition party of trying to politicise the matter. “The narrative of state suppression is deliberate propaganda and an attempt to politicise this issue. Who are you trying to fool?”

    Meanwhile, arrangements are being made to bring the body back to Lahore within a couple of days to be buried next to the grave of her husband, Mian Sharif, at the family’s Jati Umra residence.

  • VIDEO: PTI, PML-N lawmakers join hands to flout social distancing at funeral of colleagues’ mother

    In a rather shocking development, lawmakers from both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) among other political parties have come together to attend the funeral of two of their colleagues’ mother, flouting social distancing as well as the ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

    As per the details, the mother of PTI MPA from Gojra Bilal Asghar Warraich and PML-N MNA Khalid Javed Warraich passed away on Friday. With her funeral prayers being held on Saturday morning, scenes from the venue in Gojra city of Toba Tek Singh district showed violation of the government-ordered ban on public gatherings to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak that has so far claimed 144 lives with 7,654 infections across the country.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Hundreds of participants at the funeral also included prominent personalities such as senior PTI leader and lawmaker Riaz Fatyana.

    A day earlier, a lack of consensus between religious leaders and the government saw congregational prayers still being held at some mosques across the country, in defiance of government guidelines on social distancing.

    In the federal capital, hundreds gathered at the Red Mosque, led by hardline religious leader Abdul Aziz, to offer prayers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and filling the mosque’s main hall to capacity.

    Reports indicated that congregational prayers were also held at major mosques in other cities, with varying levels of social distancing.

  • KP doctor bathes coronavirus patient’s body, leads funeral prayers after cleric’s refusal to do so

    KP doctor bathes coronavirus patient’s body, leads funeral prayers after cleric’s refusal to do so

    A doctor in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has won the hearts of millions over the internet after he bathed [Islamic ritual of ghusl] a deceased coronavirus patient’s body and led his funeral prayers following the refusal of a religious cleric to do the same.

    Reports quoted Dr Hafiz Sanaullah, who is treating COVID-19 patients at a government-run hospital in Besham town of KP’s Shangla district, as saying that the deceased patient belonged to a far-flung area and was in town for treatment. But he, unfortunately, lost his battle against the deadly virus.

    “We approached a local cleric to perform the patient’s last rites but he refused saying that he was scared,” the doctor said, adding that the cleric, however, advised him to do so by himself.

    Dr Sanaullah said he being a Hafiz knew how to perform the last rites so it wasn’t a problem. “I led the funeral prayers and was joined by local paramedics as well as hospital staffers,” he said, adding that all necessary measures were taken to protect the participants.

    “I once attended a UNICEF workshop wherein I was taught how the last rites of an infected person should be performed. After bathing it, I wrapped the body in a plastic sheet and placed it in the coffin.”

    “After the funeral prayers, I myself laid him to rest as well,” Dr Sanaullah said.

  • Shangla doctor comes forward for coronavirus patient’s ghusal, funeral

    Shangla doctor comes forward for coronavirus patient’s ghusal, funeral

    After a man died of the coronavirus at a government hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla, nobody was willing to prepare the body for burial or offer the funeral prayers until one doctor stepped up.

    Dr Hafiz Sanaullah bathed the body, offered the funeral prayers and then buried it. The hospital is located in the Basham Tehsil.

    Dr Sanaullah said that he took a UNICEF course on how to handle the burials of coronavirus patients and followed the proper protocol while burying the patient.

    He further said that other members also followed protocol and bathed the body, covered it in the funeral shroud and plastic and then put it in a coffin.