Thousands of people belonging to different walks of life attended his funeral prayer, offered at National Stadium after Zuhr prayer following a 21-gun salute and a guard of honour by a contingent of Pakistan Army.
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Legendary Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, who had dedicated his life to humanity and serving the poor, has died here from renal failure.
Abdul Sattar Edhi died on Friday; he was 88.
Edhi’s foundation has provided relief in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Croatia, Indonesia and in the USA after Hurricane Katrina.
“Edhi had been in and out of hospital for much of the past month, and his family had asked the nation to pray for his health”.
“As a Nobel Peace Prize victor, I hold the right to nominate people for the prize and I have nominated Abdul Sattar Edhi”, said Malala. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called him “a great servant of humanity”, and said he would receive a posthumous presidential medal and a state funeral.
But other Pakistanis lamented the way the government had conducted Edhi’s funeral. He and his impoverished family settled in Karachi.
In a country where strong personalities are slain for speaking out against the religious-right, Edhi had no compunctions about criticizing radical Islamic and its preachers, and he didn’t give two hoots about those who dubbed him an infidel and branded his work as “un-Islamic”.
Edhi became popular in India as the news about rehabilitating Geeta, a deaf-mute Indian girl who accidentally crossed over to Pakistan 14 years ago, spread in the sub-continent media.
As their work spread across the country, Edhi remained involved hands-on in the Edhi Foundation, from raising funds to helping with ritual bathing of the bodies of the deceased poor.
“He wished that his organs be donated after he passes away”.
Born in Gujarat in British India, Edhi and his Muslim family moved to Pakistan in 1947 during the violent partition of the subcontinent between the newborn nations of India, majority Hindu, and Pakistan, majority Muslim.
In the sticky streets in the heart of Karachi, Mr Edhi, full of idealism and hope, opened his first clinic in 1951.
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“The greatest thing about Maulana sahib is that he did all his charity and humanitarian work on private donations”, Pakistan cricket team manager Intikhab Alam said.
