Thousands of protesters in Islamabad, Pakistan, yelled “revolution” as journalist Arshad Sharif was laid to rest after being shot and killed in Kenya under unknown circumstances. His burial prayers were said earlier on Thursday at the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. Thousands Attend Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif’s Funeral today.
Many of the thousands of attendees carried flags and placards of Pakistan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Political Party, led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The funeral was held the day following the return of Sharif’s remains from Kenya, where he was shot on Sunday while riding in a car with friends on the Nairobi-Magadi Highway.
Senior Journalist Arshad Sharif was among the top news anchors in Pakistan. He had a vast following from a cross-section of society. Many Gathered at the mosque to pay their final respects.
The 49-year-old expert journalist Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Kenya in what the Kenyan police described as a “Mistaken Identity,” and they voiced disappointment that Pakistan had not opened its own inquiry into the killing of the journalist.
However, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, the government would shortly deploy a two-person team of civilian investigators to Kenya to ascertain the facts surrounding the journalist’s passing.
The mystery surrounding Sharif’s death has been further complicated by conflicting comments from Kenya’s capital police. At first, they apologized for the incident and claimed that “mistaken identity” was to blame. They claimed Sharif was killed while being looked for in a car that was identical to one involved in a case of kidnapping.
A heavy police contingent was deployed at the mosque to oversee the crowd, which one Islamabad police official estimated ranged from 25,000 to 30,000 people.
Lawyer Aliya Fatima took time off work so she could pay her respects to Sharif with her mother and siblings.
“I am a regular viewer of his show, and he was among the most learned journalists we had,” she told Themacforums. “Now that he is silenced, it is our duty to stand up and speak for him.”
Muhammad Raziq, a Retired Government officer, also attend the funeral of senior journalist of Arshad Sharif.
Thousands Attend Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif’s Funeral means Sizable crowd of mourners gathered in the expansive courtyard of the Faisal Mosque, one of Pakistan’s biggest mosques, and chanted phrases like “God is magnificent” and “Arshad, your blood will usher in the revolution!”
Khan, a former cricket player who later entered politics, and Sharif were formerly seen as close allies in Pakistan.
In April, a no-confidence motion in the parliament led to the overthrow of Khan’s PTI administration. He said that both a “foreign conspiracy” and the Pakistani military were involved in a plot to assassinate him.
Following that, Sharif turned to become a fervent opponent of the military, which had dominated the nation for more than 50 of its 75 years of independence. Its biggest power broker in the 220 million-strong South Asian country, according to critics, is commonly cited.
The 44-year-old mourner Qaiser Mustafa declared his conviction that Sharif’s demise was the result of the Pakistani military establishment and the current administration.
“He was brave and honest and someone who could speak truth to power, and they wanted to silence him.”
He claimed that Sharif had given him sight.
People trust the military because “we have a romance with them,” he remarked. “However, everything changed after April. We became aware that we were being tricked. Arshad may have learned from his experiences and evolved his opinions as well—we all make mistakes and learn from them.
The establishment of a two-person committee of inquiry that will visit Kenya to conduct an investigation into Sharif’s murder and deliver a report to the government was ordered by Pakistani authorities.
The Pakistani military also requested that the government launch a prompt investigation into his passing.
On Thursday, Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar stated that finger-pointing is inappropriate.
It needs to be established precisely who benefited from his murder, Iftikhar added. “We must wait for the inquiry commission’s report. It is not proper to level accusations until the report is made public.
Reporters were told by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah that the murderer has not yet been found. I don’t want to accuse anyone of this crime before I present any proven facts, he said.
