ISLAMABAD, July 11: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the burial of Abdul Rashid Ghazi in his native village of Rojhan in Rajanpur district, till the arrival of close relatives by a special aircraft to be arranged by the government.

Three sisters of Abdul Rashid Ghazi — Ayesha, Jamila and Nabeela — had submitted an application in the Supreme Court to allow burial of their brother in the compound of Jamia Fareedia in Islamabad, beside the grave of their father Maulana Abdullah, in accordance with the will of the deceased. They were accompanied by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA Maulana Abdul Aziz, Advocate Musarrat Hilali and a couple of supporters.

Taking up the application at 5pm, a special bench comprising Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar directed that the body of Maulana Ghazi should be (temporarily) ‘Amanatan’ buried in his native village, to be exhumed later for burial in accordance with his will.

The bench said three women under government’s custody, Majida Umme Hassam, wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz, and their two daughters Tayyaba and Asma, should be allowed to attend the burial after they were released on parole.

National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) director-general Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema assured the bench that he would arrange a small aircraft to take six or seven close relatives.

Lal Masjid’s khateeb Maulana Abdul Aziz has been released on parole and he accompanied the body of his younger brother to his native town.

The bench, however, made it clear that it would not pass any order to bring back the body to Islamabad because it would create problems.

On special instructions of the court, the Brig Iqbal also let the sisters talk to their elder brother on cellphone. When the bench resumed hearing after about half an hour, one of the sisters later told the court that Maulana Aziz had told them that he was with the body but had not seen the face. Besides, whatever he was doing was all because of government’s pressure, she quoted him as having said.

Advocate Iftikhar Gillani, representing the sisters, pleaded that the family should be allowed to see the face of their brother before burial, which was part of Islamic funeral rites.

The bench ordered the administration not to put unreasonable hurdles and allow all religious rituals to be practised by the family during the funeral. “No law on earth bars anyone from seeing the face of a dead,” Justice Abbasi observed.

“You (the government) did the same thing with the family of a former prime minister and the people still remembers this,” Justice Khokhar said. “It is in your own interest to let the relatives perform Islamic customs, otherwise it will create problems for you.”

The order also required the government to submit a detailed report by Thursday about close relatives of Maulana Aziz – his mother Sahiba Khatoon, son Hassan and nephew Atta Mohammad and Maulana Inamullah, Mohammad Abdullah and Noor Mohammad – feared dead during the operation.

Earlier, the bench noted that Abdul Rashid Ghazi’s sisters had not been informed about the transfer of the body to their native place. It said that due to typical bureaucratic attitude, an adverse public opinion about the operation was being created.