His body was presented a guard of honour by a contingent of Punjab police on the Lower Mall before the funeral which was attended by thousands of his followers, a couple of provincial ministers and office-bearers and activists of different political parties. People from all parts of the country reached here to attend the funeral.

The body, lying in a coffin and wrapped in Pakistani flag, was first brought to the Government College University’s ground by a Punjab government helicopter with full protocol from where it was taken to Nasser Bagh’s main entrance on The Lower Mall in a Rescue-1122 ambulance.

After the funeral, his coffin was again taken to the nearby GCU ground from where it was airlifted to Jamia Naeemia for burial.

Strict security measures were taken in and around Nasser Bagh with the deployment of 1,000 policemen, while 5,000 cops were put on alert across the city to avoid any untoward incident. No politician or top government official attended the funeral reportedly because of security concerns.

However, Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah and excise and taxation minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaaur Rehman, MNA Sahibzada Fazal Karim and Rout-i-Hilal Committee Pakistan chairman Mutfi Munibur Rehman were prominent among the participants.

A senior police officer told Dawn that all top leaders of political and religious parties had been requested by the Punjab government not to attend the funeral because of security threats.

The police barricaded The Mall at Faisal Chowk and Lower Mall at Texali Chowk and at Civil Secretariat and closed all arteries of these two main roads for all sorts of traffic after 3pm. Participants and motorists were also frisked by the police.

Skirmishes and arguments took place between the police and motorists, especially motorcyclists, when they were denied access to their destinations.

A majority of people had to face a great deal of inconvenience when they were forced to take routes other than they intended.

Civil Lines Investigation SP Dr Hyder Ashraf told Dawn that 30,000 people, including motorists and participants of funeral, were frisked at three security cordons one after the other.

He said 1,000 cops were deployed in and around Nasser Bagh who allowed the participants entering the premises only after thorough frisking.

He said three targets were set to secure the funeral, which included frisking of participants, preventing motorists and motorcyclists’ access to the funeral site (Nasser Bagh) and providing foolproof security to the coffin as well as participants.

The participants, who had to reach Nasser Bagh after walking several kilometers on foot, returned with a pledge that sit-ins and protests would be held in all parts of the country to mourn Friday’s gruesome incident.

‘The voice, which was always raised against the opponents of Islam and in favour of stability and existence of Pakistan, has been silenced,’ said Muhammad Sharif Naeemi, of Jamia Masjid Shahi, McLeod Road, after attending the funeral.

‘The killer(s) of Dr Naeemi are using the name of Taliban. They are not Muslims,’ he said and added that Dr Naeemi had no rivalry with any one.

Sharif, who is a member of the executive body of Naeemia Association of Pakistan, said Dr Naeemi had never accepted his security request, saying he did not want anyone to be killed along with him.

Qari Mehboob Mujtaba Rizvi, who came from Jamia Hanafia, Gujranwala, said they had suffered a great loss as Dr Naeemi had devoted his life to create harmony among all sects and raised his voice against anti-Muslim elements.

 SITUATION AT JAMIA
A large number of people visited Jamia Naeemia on Saturday to pay homage to Dr Naeemi. A section of Allama Iqbal Road remained closed to facilitate the visitors.

Civil Lines division SP Sohail Akhtar Sokheira said security officials were deployed in and around the seminary-cum-mosque where prayers were held as per routine.

He said Dr Naeemi was buried next to his father’s grave on the premises of Jamia Naeemia. He said that Dr Naeemi’s office, where the suicide bomber blew himself up, was closed  for public to preserve the crime scene for further investigation.