02 November 2004	Tuesday	18 Ramazan 1425

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LAHORE, Nov 1: Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi announced minutes before the funeral prayers for Mian Sharif that the government would not bar anyone from attending them at Data Sahib's shrine or at Raiwind.

"Police have been issued directions to the effect," he told a press conference at his office here on Monday.

The announcement came around 45 minutes before the funeral prayers were to be offered at the shrine.

Asked why the decision came so late, he said it was not clear till Sunday night whether the body was being brought (to Lahore) or not and whether it would be brought through an ordinary flight or a chartered one.

The chief minister denied the "impression" that the government had created hurdles in the performance of the last rites of Mian Sharif and that raids had been conducted to arrest or deter PML-N workers from attending them.

Asked why the government did not allow the coffin to be taken to the shrine and instead shifted it to Raiwind in a helicopter, he said even their (Sharifs') doctors at the Ittefaq Hospital were agreed that the body had started decomposing and it would not be advisable to shuttle it between various places.

There were also security reasons behind the decision, he admitted.

"It was impossible to deploy forces along that long route and, keeping in view the recent terror incidents, the security situation was also not that good for holding any such event."

Otherwise, he said, the government had always been generous in granting relaxations to the Sharifs. He recalled that Shahbaz Sharif had been issued a passport for his treatment in the US, while his wife and daughters had been allowed to return Pakistan on two occasions.

"Even this time we were ready to accommodate the whole family provided they had applied for it," the chief minister said, adding there were reports that the Sharifs had not even purchased air tickets.