MM News

KARACHI: The funeral prayer of Bilquis Bano Edhi, the wife of renowned humanitarian and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, was laid to rest at Mewa Shah graveyard, Karachi on Saturday.

Bilquis’ funeral prayers were offered at the New Memon Masjid Kharadar shortly before her burial. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah along with members of his cabinet attended the prayers. Local leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were also present. She was given a guard of honour by a Sindh police contingent.

Talking to journalists earlier, Faisal Edhi said that his mother will be laid to rest at Mewa Shah graveyard as per her wish. Faisal said he was left alone, adding that her mother gave him courage after the death of his father.

He paid tribute to Bilquis Edhi and said that she had been managing all the operations of the Edhi Foundation.

A day earlier, Bilquis Bano Edhi passed away at the age of 74 after a brief hospitalisation. She was admitted to a hospital in Karachi for three days and was rushed there after her blood pressure had suddenly dropped.

A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation said that Bilquis was suffering from “multiple ailments”. “She had heart problems in addition to lung issues,” he added.

Bilquis was a professional nurse and headed the Bilquis Edhi Foundation. She spent more than six decades of her life serving humanity. Her charity saved over thousands of unwanted babies by placing jhoolas (cradles) at Edhi Homes and centres across the country.

Called the Mother of Pakistan, she was awarded various national and foreign awards including the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the Lenin Peace Prize, Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice (2015), and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, which she received along with her husband in 1986.

Last year, she was also declared the ‘Person of the Decade’, along with UN rapporteur on human rights Prof Yanghee Lee and the US ethicist Stephen Soldz by an international organisation.