ROJHAN MAZARI (Rajanpur), July 12: Lal Masjid cleric Adbul Rashid Ghazi was laid to rest on Thursday in the courtyard of Jamia Abdullah bin Ghazi seminary in the Abdullah Ghazi village on Thursday in the presence of hundreds of clerics, seminary students and local tribesmen.

His elder brother, Maulana Abdul Aziz who had been caught fleeing from the Lal Masjid clad in a burqa and was brought here in police custody, led the funeral prayers.

Mourners smashed the coffin's glass lid to have the last glimpse of Rashid Ghazi. They raised slogans of “Al Jihad, Al Jihad” after the prayers were offered.

Before the prayers, Maulana Aziz delivered a speech in which he strongly criticised commando operation against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. He said that members of his family and colleagues had sacrificed their lives for the Islamic system in the country.

He urged the people to come forward and said that the movement would continue till the enforcement Sharia in the country.

The body of Ghazi had been brought at the Farid Air Base, some 125 kilometres from his village, on Wednesday. The burial was delayed for a day after the Supreme Court ordered the government not to let it take place till his sisters and other relatives reached there.

In compliance with the court directive, the administration kept the body at Police Lines till the arrival of his sisters, Aysha Bibi and Jamila Bibi.

The sisters and other members of the family reached here early Thursday morning and met Maulana Abdul Aziz.

After the family members had the last glimpse, the body of the deceased was brought to the village in a motorcade accompanied by hundreds of policemen and police commandos.

Some people started raising slogans against the government, but they were quickly stopped by other mourners.

After the funeral prayers were performed, Maulana Abdul Aziz was taken back to the capital under police custody.