A grand party, complete with upbeat music by singer Abrar ul Haq, was held at the Sindh Governor House on Tuesday evening, even though the party’s Sindh chapter had announced a three-day mourning period following comedian Umer Sharif’s death.
Journalist Sanjay Sadhwani posted a video from the event on Twitter, which showcased Abrar-ul-Haq singing his infamous song ‘Nach Punjaban’ as several men danced to the tunes around him. Sadhwani also pointed out that the video featured Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Firdous Naqvi. In the background on the stage, musician Salman Ahmed could be seen sitting in the audience.
یہ گورنر ہاؤس سندھ ہے ۔ جہاں پر ناچتے لوگ پی ٹی آئی کے رہنما ہیں ۔ جن میں موجودہ رکن اسمبلی فردوس شمیم نقوی جو اپوزیشن لیڈر بھی دہے ہیں وہ نچ پنجابن پر رقص کر رہے ہیں ۔ واضح رہے عمر شریف کے انتقال پر تین روزہ سوگ کا اعلان کیا جا چلا ہے جبکہ عمر شریف تدفین نہیں ہوئی کل ہونی ہے pic.twitter.com/sq6dEsS3hE
— sanjay sadhwani (@sanjaysadhwani2) October 5, 2021
A local news channel reported that the gathering commemorated the premier of Ahmed’s upcoming film, “Spiritual Democracy”, which explored Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political struggles.
Moreover, a local online English media outlet reported that the gathering occurred on October 5.
Another journalist, Naimat Khan, claimed that the party was hosted by PTI officials to celebrate the PM’s birthday. Naimat added that the celebrations took place the night before Sharif’s mortal remains were flown back to Pakistan for burial.
Singer and politician @AbrarUlHaqPK performs at Sindh Governor House when Governor @ImranIsmailPTI’s party PTI has declared 3-days mourning on the demise of #UmerSharif, who will be laid to rest in #Karachi today. Not an appropriate day for this function pic.twitter.com/XGhwOdwq80
— Naimat Khan (@NKMalazai) October 6, 2021
Sharif was laid to rest, as per his dying wish, at the Abdul Shah Ghazi cemetery in Karachi on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, his casket was flown into Pakistan from Germany on a Turkish Airlines flight. Sharif has been buried next to Shireen Jinnah’s grave, who was the sister of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Fatima Jinnah.
Earlier on Saturday, PTI Sindh addressed the media outside the Sindh Assembly and announced three days of mourning on Saturday. This was the same day that Sharif passed away from a long illness in Germany, where he had transited on his way for medical treatment in the US.