J. Salik who attended the last rites of the Abdul Sattar Edhi, in Karachi.
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President Mamnoon Hussain, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, his Sindh counterpart Qaim Ali Shah, Governor Sindh Ishratul Ibad, IG Sindh AD Khawaja, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah and Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar among others are set to attend the funeral. But his legacy will live on forever in the form of the work he did and the people whose lives he touched.
After giving details about his career and hard work in the service of humanity, The New York Times, America’s leading newspaper, said Edhi’s name became “synonymous with charitable causes and who achieved an nearly saintly status in Pakistan”.
Edhi’s coffin, wrapped in the green national flag and covered with pink rose-petals, was carried on a military jeep into the national stadium in Karachi where there was a guard of honour as thousands paid tribute.
After the funeral, his body was taken to Edhi village, where he will be laid to rest.
Edhi was born to a family of traders in what was then the Bombay Presidency in undivided India on January 1, 1924, and arrived in Pakistan in 1947.
Pakistan is still mourning the loss of humanitarian hero and icon Abdul Sattar Edhi.
Edhi established a welfare foundation nearly six decades ago that he oversaw with his wife, Bilquis Edhi.
Until recent years when his old age and health prevented him, Edhi worked long hours in the day-to-day operations of the foundation in Karachi, even working in ambulances and washing corpses at his morgues.
He was renowned for dedicating his life to the poor, founding the Edhi Foundation, which grew to be Pakistan’s largest welfare organisation, running schools, hospitals and ambulance services across the country.
Edhi was a “real gem and asset for Pakistan”, Sharif said in a statement.
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In 1989, Edhi received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz from the government of Pakistan. His humble and simplistic lifestyle gained him the reputation as Pakistan’s leading philanthropist and he was also nominated for a Nobel Peace prize.
