May 31, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

LAHORE, May 30: Renowned journalist and former editor of Dawn, Tahir Mirza, who died in Karachi on Tuesday was laid to rest in the G Block Graveyard in Model Town here on Wednesday afternoon.

His funeral prayers, offered on the premises behind the Bank Square Market, opposite C Block, Model Town, was attended by a large number of people, including his relatives and friends, political leaders, rights activists and journalists.

His body was brought to Lahore in the morning from Karachi where he died of lung cancer after serving the profession during an illustrious career spanning over 40 years.

Prominent among those who attended the funeral were PPP (Shaheed Bhutto) leader Dr Mubashir Hassan, director Human Rights Commission of Pakistan I.A. Rehman, noted writers Intizar Hussain, Hameed Akhtar and Dr Mehdi Hassan besides columnist Hussain Naqi.

HRCP chairperson Asma Jahangir and artiste-teacher Saleema Hashmi and Shoaib Hashmi visited the bereaved family.

Quran Khwani, followed by Fateha, will be held at the family residence at 31-C, Model Town, between Asr and Maghrib prayers on Thursday.

Meanwhile, government leaders and politicians belonging to the ruling and opposition parties have sent messages of condolence to the bereaved family, expressing grief over the death of the veteran journalist.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in their condolence messages that Tahir Mirza, who had a distinguished career in journalism, upheld the highest standards of professionalism and never compromised on principles.

His services for “the cause of the underprivileged will be long remembered”, the prime minister said.

Acting Chairman Senate, Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, and Leader of the House in the Senate, Wasim Sajjad, in their separate messages, said Tahir Mirza was a professional to the core who left his mark as a reporter, columnist, broadcaster and editor.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif in a message sent to the family from London praised the services of Tahir Mirza in the field of journalism and termed his passing away a great loss to society.

Messages of condolence have also been sent by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azeem Khan, and Punjab provincial ministers Sahibzada Syed Saeed-ul-Hassan Shah and Makhdoom Ashfaq Ahmad.

Liaquat Baloch, deputy secretary general of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, and Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, MNA and provincial president of the MMA, in their messages expressed their deep grief over the death of Mr Mirza.

According to a message received from Washington, a condolence meeting and Quran Khwani will be held at 6814 Grica Avenue, Alexandria, VA-22310 on Saturday afternoon.