Islamabad: With tears and flower petals, Pakistanis bid farewell to their ‘Mother Teresa’ in an emotional funeral ceremony held in Karachi.
Dr Ruth Pfau, a symbol of selflessness and devotion, was buried on Saturday with full honours at a state funeral following her death at the age of 87 earlier this month.
Hundreds of Pakistanis and many Pakistani leaders gathered for a final farewell to Dr. Pfau who dedicated 56 years of her life to help treat leprosy patients in Pakistan. Many others witnessed the unprecedented state funeral on TV channels which broadcasted live recording of her funeral service.
Dr Ruth Pfau was sent off with a 19-gun salute — the highest military honour at burial which was last conferred on humanitarian icon Abdul Sattar Edhi.
Pakistan’s armed forces personnel carried Dr. Pfau’s casket which was draped in the Pakistani national flag and covered with rose petals, to the St Patrick’s Cathedral in Karachi.
Pakistan’s top civilian and military officials were among the hundreds of people who attended the service.
President Mamnoon Hussain, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Vice-Admiral Zafar Abbasi laid floral wreaths on her grave. COAS Gen. Bajwa remembered Dr. Pfau as an “ambassador of humanity” and termed her death a great loss to humanity.
The Director-General of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Governor of Sindh Muhammad Zubair, the Inspector-General of Sindh and other high-level officials also attended the ceremony. A representative of the German government also paid their respects and laid a wreath.
Dr. Pfau is the third civilian after Pakistan’s founder Jinnah and humanitarian hero Edhi to receive a state funeral.
The highest-ranking Catholic bishop of the Karachi diocese, Joseph Coutts presided over the requiem mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.
Dr. Pfau’s patients wept uncontrollably as the casket was lowered into the ground at Gora Qabristan, Karachi’s oldest cemetery.
“There is no one like her and there won’t be anyone else like her. We pray to God to send people like her again to this world so that they could continue serving people,” said Martha Fernando, who has worked with Dr. Pfau at the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre.
Bundu Shaikh, a former leprosy patient who was treated by her, recalled: “She is not just a doctor, not just a mother, but a Messiah.”
Dr. Ruth Katharina Martha Pfau was a German-Pakistani doctor who dedicated her life to helping leprosy patients in Pakistan. It was due to her ceaseless efforts that Pakistan became leprosy-free in 1996. She is one of the founders of the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC).
Dr. Ruth Pfau received numerous accolades for her services including the prestigious Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 1979, Hilal-e-Pakistan in 1989, Life-time Achievement Award from the President of Pakistan in 2006 and the German Staufer Medal in 2015.
