PESHAWAR: NWFP Senior Minister Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao was today [Feb 9] laid to rest amidst wails and cries by thousands of persons at his ancestral graveyard. … Federal and provincial Ministers, PPP leaders and workers, students, friends and admirers sobbed as Mr Sherpao’s coffin was lifted from his residence for Namaz-i-Janaza. The people burst into cries when the coffin wrapped in PPP flag was lowered into the grave. Some people fainted. Despite all arra­n­gements the gathering was unmanageable and the Janaza prayers had to be held twice. President Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, army chief Gen Tikka Khan [and other officials and dignitaries] participated in the Janaza prayers. Earlier, in the morning a caravan of cars, buses, wagons and other vehicles proceeded from Peshawar to Charsadda from where it had to go to Sherpao.

[Our staff reporter adds,] Mr. Abdul Wali Khan, the NAP chief and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly; Mr. Arbab Sikandar Khan, former Governor of the NWFP; and several other NAP leaders were detained in various parts of the country. … Over 40 persons were arrested in the NWFP as a sequel to the assassination of [Mr. Sherpao].

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2025