BAHAWALPUR: Funeral prayers for Princess Rafiqa Abbasi, daughter of the late Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi, were offered at Dera Nawab Sahib, about 40 kilometres from here, on Saturday.

A number of people including the members of the Abbasi family residing in Bahawalpur and Ahmedpur East attended the funeral prayer. She died in Karachi on Friday and her body was brought to Dera Nawab Sahib on Saturday.

Later, the body was taken to the royal graveyard in Cholistan adjacent to the Derawar Fort where she was laid to rest next to the graves of her father, grandfather and the great grandfather.

Princess Rafiqa Abbasi was the wife of Irshad Abdul Qadir. Sahibzada Qamaruzzaman Abbasi told Dawn that his aunt was about 80 and left behind her husband, a daughter and two sons residing in Karachi.

She was the sister of Brig Muhammad Abbas Abbasi who remained Punjab governor during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s rule and Lt-Gen S.M. Abbasi, governor of Sindh during Zia’s martial law, and grandmother of MPA (PTI) Sahibzada Gazean Abbasi (son of Sahibzada Usman Abbasi).

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2019