Mourners throng Kingri House; burial today in Pir Jo Goth: Pir Pagara's body to arrive today

Kingri House, the residence of late Pir Pagara in Karachi, was thronged by the grieved members of Hur community, who are mourning the death of their spiritual leader. The mourners started gathering outside Kingri House late Tuesday night, when private TV channels started flashing the news of Pir Sahib's death in London. The spiritual leader of Hurs and chief of PML-F, Shah Mardan Shah, commonly known as Pir Sahan Pagara, died late Tuesday night due to cardiac arrest in London.
People from all walks of life including politicians, notables, social leaders and representatives of civil society visited Kingri House to express condolence over the sad demise of Pir Pagara. Nafees Siddiqui, Nisar Memon, Islam-ud-din Shaikh, Jam Tamachi Unar, Basharat Mirza, Haji Hanif Tayyab, Abdul Jabber Lakho (former Advocate General), Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Essa Abdullah and other political and religious leaders were among those who visited Kingri House.
"The death of Pir Sahab is an irreparable loss to the country and its politics, and the gape created by his death will hard to bridge," said Haji Hanif Tayyab, a leader of Sunni Ittehad Council. He said that Pir Pagara had played a vital role in politics of the country and his services would never be forgotten. "Pir Sahab was running more than 1000 seminaries in Sindh," Tayyab informed.
The body of PML-F chief will be brought to Pakistan for burial on Thursday. The flight carrying his body is scheduled to reach Karachi Airport at 7:30, from where it will be taken to Sukkur in a plane. From Sukkur the body will be flown to his native village, Pir Jo Goth, in a helicopter to be laid there. Pir Syed Siraj Shah Gilani of Pirkot, Sidhana, Jhang will lead the funeral prayer of Pir Pagara to be held in Pir Jo Goth. "The funeral prayers of Pir Sahab Pagara is likely to be held at around 11.00 am on Thursday (today)," a Kingri House source told Business Recorder.
Hundreds of followers and devotees of Pir Sahib left for Pir Jo Goth in buses and private vehicles to attend his last rites. One of the followers, Muhammad Nawaz Mangi, told this scribe that he hailed from Panu Aqil and would go to Pir Jo Goth to attend the funeral prayer of his spiritual leader.
"We and our ancestors are followers of Pir Sahab since Suriya Badshah regime," he said adding that Pir Sahab was a great person. Mumtaz Baghar, another follower, said that they were following the teachings of Pir Pagara since 1952. "Pir Sahab was a humble and spiritual man and served people without any discrimination of cast and creed," he added.
The death was mourned across Sindh, as markets and businesses in many towns of the province including Shikarpur, Sanghar, Khairpur remained closed to mourn Pir Pagara's death. Pir Pagara was under treatment in a Karachi hospital since November 24 and was shifted to London last week for treatment.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have telephoned Pir Pagaro's sons in London to condole with them over the sad demise of their father. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced three-day mourning in Sindh and public holiday on Thursday over Pir Pagaro's death.