20 attend Paris attackers’ funeral prayers in absentia

ISLAMABAD: The judgements of the superior judiciary have already held that minor discrepancies in the voting process which do not make an overall effect on the result, could not be made the basis to declare the entire election process null and void.
The Election Tribunals have also validated the 2013 election in constituencies where the counterfoils were not stamped or were not signed but contained other particulars like the thumb impressions, identity card number and vote number of the voter.
As claimed by Imran Khan that at least 34,000 votes were bogus in NA-122 as they did not contain signs, stamps of the presiding officer but the legal team of Khan perhaps has not told theContinued on page 10By Mushtaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: A religious scholar, Maulana Pir Mohammad Chishti, Tuesday arranged a funeral in absentia here for the two brothers who attacked the Paris-based magazine, Charlie Hebdo.He paid rich tribute to Chérif Kouachi and Saïd Kouachi for sacrificing their lives and killing those involved in committing blasphemy.
Pir Mohammad Chishti is the provincial patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) led by the Canada-based Dr Tahirul Qadri. He runs the Ghousia Madrassa in Peshawar’s Yakatoot area.
The cleric, who originally belongs to Chitral and is based in Peshawar, said it was his personal wish to pay tribute to the two Muslim brothers by arranging a funeral in absentia for them.
“It was my personal decision and I am so happy I did whatever was possible in my personal capacity,” Pir Mohammad Chishti told The News after leading the funeral prayers at a public park adjacent to the sprawling Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium.
Chérif and Saïd Kouachi attacked the French satirical magazine’s Paris office last Wednesday killing 12 persons, including a number of cartoonists and others. The two were slain during a siege by the police on Friday.
Pir Mohammad Chishti, however, couldn’t attract many people at the funeral. The funeral was delayed for an hour as they expected more people to join them. The cleric, however, said the funeral was delayed for his three friends coming from Rawalpindi for the funeral prayers.
Around 20 people, mostly madrassa students, attended the funeral.
“Today we feel so proud to attend the funeral of our brothers,” said Pir Mohammad Chishti, adding they are the heroes of Islam.
“They laid down their lives but eliminated those who committed blasphemy against our Prophet (PBUH),” he said.
He said he had no political purpose by organising the funeral but being a Muslim he thought it was his duty to do so.