LARKANA: Veteran polit­ician and former Sindh chief minister Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, who died at the age of 88 in Karachi a day before, was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard, 28 kilometres from here on Monday.

Hundreds of admirers, community fellows, party workers, local politicians, lawyers and religious leaders of the area participated in the namaz-i-janaza, which was led by Bhutto’s son-in-law Ghulam Qadir Shah Jamote of Matiari.

The bereaved family strictly observed SOP’s for Covid-19 at the funeral venue and put up two big screens under a tent to show last glimpse of the body to the mourners without having to intermingle and let them bid farewell to the veteran politician.

Tight security arran­gements were made on the occasion and people were allowed into the venue only after going through walkthrough gates and scanners. Touching scenes were witnessed when the body of the former chief minister was lowered into the grave.

Earlier, Ali Haider, younger son of late Mumtaz Bhutto, along with other close relatives shifted the body from the family’s Karachi residence to Mirpur Bhutto in an ambulance.

Amir Bakhsh Bhutto, elder son of Mumtaz Bhutto, along with other family members was receiving mourners and condolence messages on phone from across the country and abroad over the demise of his father.

The soyem for Mumtaz Bhutto would be held on Tuesday at Mirpur Bhutto, said Ibrahim Abro, spokesperson for the Bhutto family.

Prominent among those who attended the funeral were; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior, son of Mir Murtaza Bhutto; Dr Safdar Abbasi, president of PPP-Workers; GDA MPA Moazzam Ali Abbasi, Ghous Bakhsh Mahar, Ali Gohar Khan Mahar, JUI-F Sindh general secretary Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro and others.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2021