Veteran actor and comedian Umer Sharif was laid to rest on Wednesday afternoon on the grounds of the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in accordance with his final wishes.
Sharif’s body arrived on Wednesday morning from Germany via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight, clad in the Pakistani flag. His funeral prayers were also conducted at the Turkish mosque in Nuremberg earlier this week following his death on Oct 2. Sharif's wife, Zarin Ghazal, and Pakistani Consul General Amjad Ali also accompanied the body.
Pakistan legend Umer Sharif passes away in Germany
In Karachi, Sharif’s funeral prayers were held at the Umer Sharif Park in Clifton around 3pm, following which he was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi. The prayers were led by spiritual and religious scholar Maulana Bashir Farooq Qadri, chairman of the Saylani Welfare Trust.
The funeral was highly attended by the public amid tight security, courtesy of the Sindh Rangers and police.
Earlier, Sindh Minister for Information and Labour Senator Saeed Ghani was at the airport to receive Sharif’s body, Ghazal and the consul general. Speaking to media at the airport, Ghani announced that a trust-like institution will be set up in the artist's name.
Sharif, who was also awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, was headed from Karachi to Washington in late September for medical treatment, but the air ambulance carrying him and his wife Zareen Ghazal made an emergency landing in Germany as his condition deteriorated further.
'The King of Comedy': Umer Sharif leaves behind a huge void
His travel to and treatment in the United States faced extensive delays until the federal government intervened on his behalf to arrange a visa for him and his wife.
Meanwhile, Lollywood actor Reema Khan's cardiologist husband, Dr Tariq Shahab, offered to perform the surgery in the US, and the Sindh government assisted with arranging the air ambulance.
Sharif was hospitalised following complaints of fatigue and fever in Nuremburg. He was 66.
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