ISLAMABAD
Slain journalist Arshad Sharif (who was shot dead amid mysterious circumstances in Kenya on Sunday last week) was laid to rest at the H-11 graveyard in Islamabad on Thursday with hundreds of people in attendance.
A large contingent of police was deployed at the graveyard where journalists and members of the civil society reached in huge numbers. During Sharif’s burial, slogans of “Allahu Akbar” were chanted.
Afterwards, personnel of the Pakistan Army paid tribute to the journalist and a garland from Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa was laid at his grave.
Earlier, Sharif’s funeral prayers were offered at Shah Faisal Mosque. A large number of journalists, politicians and civil society members including Azam Swati, Shibli Faraz, Murad Saeed, Faisal Karim Kundi, Kashif Abbasi, Waseem Badami and Sami Ibrahim attended the funeral prayers in the capital.
According to reporter in Islamabad, nearly 20,000 people attended the funeral while thousands others gathered outside the Faisal Mosque.
Moreover, funeral prayers in absentia were also held in Lahore.
According to a security order issued by Islamabad police, security around Shah Faisal Mosque was beefed up ahead of the funeral, with the deployment of 3,792 security personnel. These include six inspectors and 1,010 police constables.
