Khadim Rizvi’s funeral prayers today

LAHORE:The decision to delay the funeral prayers of Tehrik Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Ameer Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi for one day was taken by the party Shoora in the early hours of Friday on the insistence of a large number of the party workers and supporters from far-flung areas who could not have attended it on Friday. “We have been receiving countless phone calls and messages from all over the country, requesting to delay the funeral and burial to allow those living in far-away places, especially those in Azad Kashmir and Sindh, to reach in time to attend the funeral and have a chance to take a last look at their beloved leader,” said Pir Ijaz Ashrafi, central information secretary of TLP while talking to The News.

He said the Shoora was compelled to delay the funeral till Saturday besides changing the burial place from his ancestral village in Attock to Lahore in view of time required to take the body there. “Now Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi will be buried inside the small living quarter (Hujra) next to his mosque Markaz Rehmatul Lil Alameen, Multan Road, where he had been living for the last two decades,” Pir Ijaz Ashrafi added. He said the funeral prayers would be offered at Minar-e-Pakistan ground on Saturday at 11am.

Thousands of crying and durood reciting workers and followers kept visiting the Markaz Rehmatul Lil Alameen all the day on Friday where the body of Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi was kept, paying homage and taking the last look of their leader. Pir Ijaz Ashrafi said TLP Naib Ameer Allama Zaheerul Hasan Shah will be discharging the duties of interim ameer of the party after the death of Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi. He said the party Shoora is likely to meet within next few weeks to elect the new ameer. The date of meeting of the Shoora was not fixed in view of the deep grief and shock in which the party leadership was in at the moment.