ISLAMABAD Aug 26: The capital city witnessed one of the largest funerals in recent years on Tuesday when celebrated and highly respected Urdu poet Ahmed Faraz was laid to rest. Prominent literary figures and government leaders were among thousands of Faraz’s admirers at the funeral.

Faraz died on Monday night in a local hospital where he had been under treatment for some time.

The mourners included Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi, Bashir Ahmed Bilour of ANP, Syed Ghous Ali Shah of PML-N, Wasim Sajjad of PML-Q, andprominent literary figures Ataul Haq Qasmi, Mohammad Mansha Yad, Masood Mufti, Dr Tauseef Tabassum, Professor Ahsan Akbar, Iftikhar Arif, Haleem Qureshi, Nasir Zaidi, Agha Nasir, Manzar Naqvi, Tariq Shahid, Asghar Abid, Mehboob Zafar and Khurram Khaleeq.

A large police contingent was deployed to control traffic outside the graveyard in the H-8 Sector.

The floral wreaths laid on the grave included those from the Pakistan Academy of Letters, Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq, the Ministry of Health, Director-General Science and Technology Maj-Gen Ulfat Hussain and the Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation.