KARACHI: Preparation are in full swing for funeral prayers of revered humanitarian Abdus Sattar Edhi who passed away on Friday after prolonged illness at the age of 88.
The funeral prayers will be held at the National Stadium. People from all walks of life including Sindh DG Rangers Maj General Bilal Akbar, Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah, Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif and Philanthropist Ramzan Chhipa  are expected to attend the funeral at the stadium which can accommodate 35000 people.
Thousands of orphans and widows who benefited from the Edhi Centre are expected to attend the funeral.
His funeral prayer will be led by Mufti Jan Muhammad Naeemi.
Over 2000 policemen will guard the venue. Traffic police are helping people park cars and walk to the venue.
According to DIG Traffic Police Ameer Sheikh Expo Centre, Sports Complex and China Ground may be used for parking.
He added that the public can use gate number 4, 5 and 6 to enter. Media personnel can use gate 11 and 12. Meanwhile the central gate will be reserved for VIPs.
His family has requested authorities to not block roads for the funeral.
Earlier during the day his body was brought at his Meethadar office, where his last funeral rites were performed by his son Faisal Edhi.
He will be buried at the Edhi Village where he had dug his own grave 25 years ago.
In his last act of kindness he donated all of his body organs. Because of his condition only his cornea will be donated. An operation to extract his cornea was conducted. Two people will benefit from it.
The humanitarian wished to be buried in the clothes he died. His family will honour his wishes.
Edhi is revered as a national hero in Pakistan of nearly legendary status. He established the welfare organisation Edhi Foundation almost six decades ago that owns and runs Pakistan's largest ambulance service, as well as nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, maternity wards, morgues, homes for the elderly, and women's shelters, along with rehabilitation centers and soup kitchens across the country.
The head of the Edhi Foundation had received a number of international honours including Pakistan's Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Lenin Peace Prize, and the Balzan Prize among several other international honours for his humanitarian work.
In 2011, then Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani proposed Edhi's name for the Nobel Peace Prize. He appeared on the Nobel list again this year after he was nominated for the award by young Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Frail and weak in his later years, Edhi appointed his son Faisal as managing trustee in early 2016.
Edhi is survived by four children and his wife Bilquis Edhi, who ran the Edhi foundation with him.
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