President Arif Alvi skipped funeral of Balochistan chopper crash martyrs due to social media trolls

• Alvi was advised that it would be better if he did not attend the funeral of the martyrs.
• Maryam says it is not only PTI trolls who are responsible for this, it is because of ‘fitna’ that is imposed on us.
• The president called and condoled death of the martyrs and spoke to their family members.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi wanted to attend the funeral of the Balochistan helicopter crash martyrs, however, he was stopped from attending due to the “false and negative propaganda created by PTI trolls”.

According to sources, the president had expressed his desire that as the supreme commander and head of state he wanted to attend the funeral of the martyrs, however, the institutions informed the Dr Alvi that PTI trolls have initiated a “toxic, false and negative propaganda about the martyrs” which has enraged the people.

Therefore, President Alvi was advised that it would be better if he skipped the funeral of the martyrs to avoid any untoward incident. Adhering to the advice, the president did not attend the funeral prayers.

Taking to her Twitter handle, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz reacted to the news and blamed the PTI chairman Imran Khan for this hatred.

“It is not only PTI trolls who are responsible for this, it is because of the ‘fitna’ that has been imposed on our country as a ‘foreign agent’,” she wrote, adding by this “shameful” propaganda these “PTI trolls” have hurt the sentiments of the martyrs' families and the entire nation.

However, late night today the President's Office tweeted that Dr Alvi had called and condoled the death of the martyrs. The president had spoken to the family members of Naik Mudassar Fayyaz Shaheed, co-pilot Maj Talha Mannan, Maj Saeed Ahmed, Brig Khalid, Brig Amjad Hanif, and Lt. Gen Sarfraz Ali.

Martyrs of helicopter crash laid to rest

On Tuesday, the martyrs of the helicopter crash in Balochistan were laid to rest with full military honours in Rawalpindi.

The funeral prayers of Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, Major General Amjad Hanif, and Brigadier Muhammad Khalid were offered at the Army graveyard.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, federal ministers, Azad Jammu and Kashmir's prime minister, foreign dignitaries and a large number of senior serving, retired military and civil officials and relatives of the martyrs attended the funeral prayers.