Photo courtesy Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre Facebook
Pakistan held a state funeral in Karachi on Saturday to say farewell to one of the most widely respected humanitarian work leaders Dr. Ruth Pfau, hailed as the savior of Pakistan’s lepers.
Pfau, a German-Pakistani doctor, passed away at the age of 87 earlier this month . She dedicated her life to helping leprosy patients in this South Asian country and is one of the founders of (MALC). The president of Pakistan attended the funeral ceremony expressing the nation’s gratitude to her lifelong devotion to the cause of healing the lepers.
On Saturday. armed forces personnel carried the casket containing Dr Pfau’s body into St Patrick’s Cathedral in Karachi’s down town Saddar area on Saturday. The coffin was draped in the Pakistani flag and covered with rose petals.
A large of number of people joined in saying her final rites at the church. Known as ‘Pakistani Mother Teresa’ Dr Pfau was transported to Gora Qabaristan, Karachi’s oldest graveyard, where she was laid to rest.
Besides President Mamnoon Hussain a number of prominent leaders and political figures including Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair as well as Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Vice Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, paid their respects to the departed soul and laid floral wreaths on her grave.
A state funeral is a rare honor bestowed on few individuals and Saturday’s burial was only the second such honor in the last three decades. Abdul Sattar Edhi, who passed away last year, was the only other state funeral to take place.
Several politicians, military officials, members of civil society and hundreds of supporters attended the service and paid tributes to Dr Pfau.
Born in Germany, Dr Pfau, had been sent to Pakistan in 1960 by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, a congregation of nuns that she was a member of, for a medical service for students. After witnessing the plight of leprosy patients, she decided to settle here. She was granted Pakistani citizenship in 1988.
In recognition of her efforts. Dr Ruth Pfau was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award of the country decades ago, followed up in 1989 bythe Hilal-i-Pakistan for her services.
Pakistan was declared a leprosy-free country in 1996 by the World Health Organization but it was in earlier decades that Dr. Pfau laid the basis for curing the lepers in the country.
