Large crowed gather in Lahore for TLP chief Khadim Rizvi's funeral prayers

 The funeral prayers of TLP chief Maulana Khadim Rizvi will be offered today at Minar-e-Pakistan Ground.

The prayers will be offered by Abdul Sattar. The firebrand cleric will be laid to rest at Rehmat ul Lil Aalameen mosque after the prayers. He was the prayer leader at the mosque and had been living there for the last two decades.

All arrangements have been finalized as large a crowed from across the country is expected to attend the funeral of TLP chief Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi.

The Lahore police have deputed 26 SHOs, 13 DSPs, and thousands of policemen for security purposes. Internet jammers have been put in place too.

The vehicles in the nearby areas have been stuck in traffic. The participants are being told to park their cars on the Lower Mall Road and then walk towards the Greater Iqbal Park.

Khadim's body is being brought to the park in an ambulance. TLP supporters have formed a human chain in front of the vehicle and are walking in front of it.

Death

The 55-year-old TLP chief breathed his last on Thursday night in Lahore. He leaves behind a wife, two sons, and three daughters. He was unwell since the last few days, confirmed family sources and had complained about the fever as he led a protest at the Faizabad Interchange a few days ago

History

Rizvi was born in 1966 in the Pindigheb area of Attock District, Punjab. His brother, Ameer Hussain, is a retired Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) from Pakistan Army.

The 55-year-old preacher was a former Pakistan government employee and hails from Attock district.

He was the founder of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, a religious political organization founded in 2015 which is known to protest against any change to Pakistan s blasphemy law.

Rizvi had memorised the holy Quran and was an ardent follower of the Islamic theologian Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, who was born in Bareilly in undivided India in the 19th century and founded the Barelvi school of thought.

Khadim Hussain took up the name Rizvi as a tribute to Ahmed Raza Khan.

As the government appointed Imam of the Pir Makki Mosque in Lahore, Khadim Rizvi earned a reputation as a firebrand speaker and charismatic leader among his followers. He has a penchant for the poetry of Allama Iqbal, and his sermons are replete with Persian couplets written by the great poet.