Quetta: Funeral of Nawab Marri at 3 pm today

KARACHI: The funeral prayers of senior politician Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri who passed away on Tuesday night will be held at 3:00 pm on Thursday (today) while the burial would take place in New Kahan area of Quetta.

Announcing the change in the earlier funeral program, spokesman of Nawabzada Changez Marri told that the funeral prayers would be offered at Railway Hockey Ground at 3:00 pm while the burial would take place in the adjoining area of New Kahan.

Earlier, it was said that the late leader will be buried in his hometown Kohlo.

The son and family members of the late leader would leave Quetta with the body today.

Late Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri was a formidable politician, a nationalist leader known for his uncompromising ideology. He never compromised on principles and ideology as he was a strong believer in Baloch rights and provincial autonomy.

Paying tributes to Nawab Khair Bakksh Marri, senior politician Mairaj Muhammad Khan, an old friend of the Baloch leader, said that Marri was a politician of great stature. He said the Baloch leader preferred to fight for the rights of the Baloch and the poor people rather than to compromise with Gen Ziaul Haq. Recalling the meeting of Ziaul Haq with the detained politician in Hyderabad prison after the overthrow the elected government of ZA Bhutto, Mairaj Muhammad Khan said that Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri refused to support the martial law and Gen Zia.

He said Nawab struggled hard and sacrificed a lot during his full life. He was chief of his tribe but his lifestyle was very simple and he mingled with the people without hesitation that he is the chief of his tribe.

Meanwhile, Former president and co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari, and patron-in-chief of the party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of veteran Baloch politician Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri.

In their separate condolence messages they paid rich tributes to the veteran politician for his services for the cause of Balochistan rights. Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri passed away in Karachi today after a protracted illness. The PPP leaders prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage and fortitude to the members of the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.