At least 25,000 people have paid their respects to the veteran journalist who was shot dead in Kenya as charges against the military rise.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Thousands chanted "revolution" as journalist Arshad Sharif was laid to rest in Kenya after he was shot dead under mysterious circumstances.
His funeral prayer was offered at Faisal Mosque in Islamabad on Thursday. Thousands of people participated, many of whom carried placards and flags of Pakistan and former Prime Minister Imran Khan's political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)، and they said that Arshad Bhai must get justice.
The funeral took place a day after Sharif's body was flown home from Kenya, where he was shot dead on Sunday while traveling in a car along the Nairobi-Magadi highway with an associate.
Sharif was one of the top news anchors of Pakistan. He had a wide following from a cross-section of society. Many people gathered in the mosque to perform his last rites.
Kenyan police have admitted that the 49-year-old journalist was shot dead in what they described as a case of "mistaken identity" and regretted the "unfortunate incident".
A heavy police force was deployed at the mosque to monitor the crowd, which an Islamabad police official estimated at 25,000 to 30,000 people.
Lawyer Alia Fatima took time off from work to offer her condolences to Sharif with her mother and siblings.
"I'm a regular viewer of his show, and he was one of the most educated journalists we've ever had." "Now that he has been silenced, it is our duty to stand up and speak for him."
Muhammad Raziq, a retired government official, also attended the funeral.
"Even though I don't agree with his politics or watch his show regularly, the important thing is that he was a human being," he said, a Muslim. He was a father. He should not have been killed."
Many mourners gathered in the vast courtyard of Faisal Mosque, Pakistan's largest, chanting slogans such as "Arshad, your blood will bring revolution" and "God is great!"
Sharif was once considered close to Pakistan's military establishment and cricketer-turned-politician Khan.
Khan's PTI government was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April. He blamed a "foreign conspiracy" as well as Pakistan's military for colluding with his political rivals.
Afterward, Sharif became a vocal critic of the military, which ruled the country for more than half of its 75 years as an independent nation. Critics often describe him as a power broker in the South Asian nation of 220 million people.
Qaiser Mustafa, 44, said he believed Pakistan's military establishment and the current government were responsible for Sharif's death.
"He was brave and honest and someone who was able to speak truth to power, and they decided to silence him,
He said that Sharif opened our eyes.
"We have a romance with the military, and people trust them," he said. But after April everything changed. We realized that we were being played. We all make mistakes and learn from them, and perhaps Arshad also learned and developed his ideas."
Pakistani authorities ordered the formation of a two-member investigative committee that will go to Kenya to investigate Sharif's murder and submit a report to the government.
The Pakistani army also asked the government to immediately investigate his death.
Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar said on Thursday that people should not raise their fingers.
"It has to be determined who benefited from his murder," said Iftikhar. We have to wait for the inquiry commission report. Until the report is released, it is not appropriate to lay charges.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters that the identity of those responsible for the murder is yet to be identified. "I don't want to accuse anyone of this crime before bringing any verified facts," he said.
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