LAHORE – Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer’s funeral, who was assassinated by his own security guard on Tuesday, will be held today (Wednesday) at the Governor’s House at 1pm. Afterwards, the slain governor would be buried at the Cavalry Grounds graveyard near his private residence.
According to sources, Taseer’s arch-political rivals including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif are expected to attend his funeral. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) top leadership, federal and provincial ministers and a large number of people from all walks of life would also attend the business tycoon-cum-politician’s last rituals.
Talking to journalists after holding an emergency meeting of the PPP parliamentary meeting, Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz said that the party had discussed the situation after Taseer’s assassination in detail and would finalise the funeral’s arrangements. Riaz confirmed that the PPP’s top brass would attend the funeral.
According to sources, the Sindh CM’s advisor Rashid Rabbani, the Sindh CM’s special assistant Waqar Mehdi and PPP Karachi President Najmi Alam would also attend Taseer’s funeral. Party leaders would also meet the governor’s family and condole his death. Late on Tuesday night, President Asif Ali Zardari’s sister MNA Faryal Talpur along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Riaz reached the governor’s private residence to condole his killing with his family.
Emotional scenes were witnessed at the Governor’s House where party workers were seen weeping on the death of their beloved leader. PPP leaders including Raja Riaz, Aurangzeb Barki ,Farooq Yousaf Ghurki, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Samiullah Khan, Uzma Bukhari, Faiza Malik, Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, Malik Mushtaq Awan, Haji Azizur Rehman Chan, Zikriya Butt and others visited the Governor’s House and advised party workers to control their sentiments, as the PPP was against the politics of violence.
Various people including PPP leaders, businessmen, bureaucrats, journalists, intellectuals and showbiz personalities reached the governor’s private residence at the Cavalry Grounds. Prominent people visiting the governor’s residence included Jahangir Badar, Raja Riaz, Samiullah Khan, Mushtaq Awan, Munir Khan, Samina Ghurki, Farooq Ghurki, Faiza Malik, Mian Ayub, Azizur Rehman Chan, Dr Tanvir, Asghar Gujjar, Zikarya Butt, Jugnu Mohsin, Najam Sethi and Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, dress designer BG and others.
Separately, the governor’s body reached the Allama Iqbal International Airport late on Tuesday night by a C-130 plane. The body was received by Taseer’s family and PPP leaders while Punjab provincial ministers were also present there. Afterwards, the body was shifted to the governor’s private residence. Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal assumed charge of Punjab acting governor and notified that the assembly’s session would not be held today (Wednesday).
