KARACHI: The funeral prayers for Bilquis Bano Edhi, the wife of renowned humanitarian and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, who passed away a day earlier, will be offered at the New Memon Masjid Kharadar after Zuhr prayers today (Saturday), said her son Faisal Edhi.
Talking to journalists, Faisal Edhi said that her mother will be laid to rest at Mewa Shah graveyard as per her wish. Expressing his grief over the sad demise of his mother, Faisal said he was left alone, adding that her mother gave him courage after the death of his father.
He paid tribute to Bilquis Edhi and said that she had been managing all the operations of Edhi Foundation.
A day earlier, Bilquis Bano Edhi passed away at the age of 74 after a brief hospitalisation. She was admitted to a hospital in Karachi for three days and was rushed there after her blood pressure had suddenly dropped. According to an Edhi Foundation spokesperson, Bilquis was ill for the last one month.
“Though she is not in a serious condition, she will remain in the hospital for a couple of more days,” the spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation Muhammad Bilal had said.
Bilal had added that Bilquis had congestive heart failure and she has already undergone a heart bypass twice.
First Lady Tehmina Durrani had also visited her during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s maiden visit to the port city on Wednesday.
‘Day of mourning’
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has announced to observe a ‘day of mourning’ today on her sad demise.
“#SindhGovt has declared tomorrow as a day of mourning to pay its respect to the contributions made by Bilqees Edhi Sahiba in the field of social service,” Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said on Friday.
CM Sindh visited the residence of Late Bilqees Edhi Sahiba to offer condolence with her family. #SindhGovt has declared tomorrow as a day of mourning to pay its respect to the contributions made by Bilqees Edhi Sahiba in the field of social service. May she rest in eternal peace pic.twitter.com/0rUJQ2wbZG
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) April 15, 2022
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Born in Indian Gujrat on August 14, 1947, Bilquis was a professional nurse and headed the Bilquis Edhi Foundation. She married Abdul Sattar Edhi in April 1966.
She spent more than six decades of her life serving humanity in need.
Her charity has saved over 42,000 unwanted babies so far by placing “jhoolas” [cradles] at the Edhi Homes and centres across the country.
She leaves behind four children, Faisal, Kubra, Zeenat and Almas from her marriage with Abdul Sattar Edhi.
In recognition of her services to humanity, she was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz by Pakistan, the Lenin Peace Prize by Russia, as well as the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in 2015.
