Friday, March 6, witnessed the unfortunate demise of veteran Pakistani comedian, late Amanullah Khan, 70, due to lung cancer at a local hospital in Lahore. Last seen in the film Na Maloom Afraad (2014) and on television in the political satire show Khabaryar (2018), the artist enjoyed huge popularity across the borders and was a pioneering member of the country’s theater comedy scene.  

The Mazaaq Raat funnyman, recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award, holds the world record of 860-day and night theater plays. He enjoyed legendary status among his peers and comedians from across the border such as Kapil Sharma and Johnny Lever shared their condolences upon his demise.

The controversy

There has been quite a bit of speculation doing the rounds regarding what exactly transpired at the late comedian’s funeral at a private housing society in Lahore. A few video clips have also gone viral on social media from the funeral’s location. They expound the popular narrative of that local residents and community members kept Amanullah sahib’s body waiting for 4 hours as they didn’t want a marasi to get burial rights near other graves.

In one of these video clips that went viral, Member of Punjab Assembly (MPA) Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan can be seen engaged in a heated argument with the administration of the graveyard. The assembly member clarified that it wasn’t a matter of religion or profession but an issue regarding the spot allotted by the society administration for his graveyard.

What actually happened

Reliable sources in the know have now revealed that the family and well-wishers of the late comedian wanted a more elaborate tomb dedicated to him at a certain spot which the society’s administration refused to, causing the delay. The burial ceremony was therefore never delayed for the reasons doing rounds in the social media, or any other reason, but for the simple reason that the graveyard administration declined to allow the construction of a mausoleum-esque tomb.

The funeral ceremony, when it eventually did take place, was attended by notable members of the media fraternity such as actor and writer Vasay Chaudhary, who even took to his twitter handle to express his disappointment with the smartphone use at the gathering. Notable stars such as Humayun Saeed and Hamza Ali Abbasi took to twitter to express their condolences on Amanullah sahib’s demise.