MULTAN, Sept 27: Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan’s body arrived at his ancestral village here on Saturday by road from Islamabad amid a gloomy atmosphere.

The news of Nawabzada Nasrullah’s death spread like a jungle fire in his ancestral Khangarh village and people started gathering at his residence soon after the Fajr prayers, even though they knew that the last journey of the seasoned politician would at least take nine to 10 hours.

All the bazaars of Khangarh, a village of some 25,000 souls, were closed to mourn the death while the educational institutions had also declared a holiday to show respect to the man who played a pivotal role in national politics since independence.

When his sons — Mansoor, Iftikhar and Israr — arrived at Khangarh with the body of their father, every one was in tears while the Nawabzada’s personal servants were crying to remember the years they spent in the company of a man who always espoused the cause of democracy in the country even in worst of the conditions.

His barber Fazal Hussain was recalling how the Nawabzada used to participate in his moments of joys and sorrows. He said when Nawabzada Nasrullah was the head of the Kashmir Committee, he called him (Fazal) to the federal capital and sponsored a two-week trip of Murree for him from his own pocket.

His farm manager Khwaja Muneer Siddiqi could not say even a few words and instead burst into tears. His grandchildren were weeping and kissing the face of their grandfather time and again out of emotions and love for the man who all his life fought for democratic rule in the country.

Nawabzada Nasrullah’s funeral prayers will be offered at the Khangarh sports ground on Sunday at about 11am. He will be laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard besides his late father, elder brother Nawabzada Abdullah Khan and mother.