ISLAMABAD: Pakistani philanthropist and humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi was laid to rest on the outskirts of Karachi in the first state funeral held since the 1980s. The ceremony was attended by tens of thousands of people, with crowds breaking through the military lines at one point, to help carry his coffin which was draped with Pakistan's green and white flag and covered with rose petals. Pakistan's top military and civil leaders offered their prayers as the world mourned the loss of the 'Angel of Mercy'.
Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, "We have lost a great servant of humanity. He was the real manifestation of love for those who were socially vulnerable, impoverished, helpless and poor. This loss is irreparable for the people of Pakistan." Edhi, 88, breathed his last after a long battle with kidney disease. He was laid in a grave dug by himself, in the clothes he was wearing at the time of his death, as per his wish.
Founder of the Edhi Foundation, one of Pakistan's largest public welfare organisations that runs one of the biggest fleets of ambulances, dozens of clinics, and orphanages in the country, Edhi spent his life helping thousands of needy people. He has been the recipient of several national awards for his undeterred service to humanity. His roots belong to Gujarat's Kathiawar Peninsula. Born to a family of traders in Bantva, Gujarat, he arrived in Pakistan in 1947 after the partition. Edhi was born barely 60 km from Gandhi's place of birth, Porbandar, in 1928. Thousands of Gujaratis migrated to the neighbouring country penniless, later contributing to Pakistan's economy. One of them is Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa. His Chhipa Welfare runs automatic bread baking plants and a kitchen that feeds over 30,000 people.
It was his mother's struggle with mental illness and paralysis without care, as a poor refugee in the country, that became Edhi's motivation to help the despaired. He started small, by begging on Karachi streets to collect funds, later buying an ambulance for the first charitable clinic he started, in 1951.
The mission soon flourished, but, the humanitarian did not lose his head. He continued to feed abandoned children, and return their dignity back to outcasts through his foundation, all the while living himself with just two sets of clothes, a karakul cap in a windowless room with just a bed, a wash basin and a stove. Edhi married Bilquis, a nurse at the Edhi dispensary, and the couple had four children, two daughters, and two sons.
Edhi's service has earned him a place along with leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi. He ran his charity empire of 1,500 ambulances, shelters for the elderly, orphanages, maternity wards and morgues entirely on public donations.
