Ujjain tailor killed in Kuwait arrives home in a coffin, laid to rest after tearful procession

Ujjain: The mortal remains of Manzoor Ahmad, the 50-year-old Indian who tailored for a living in the Gulf, reached his Raj Royal Enclave residence in Ujjain on Thursday late night, a day after he perished in a suspected Iranian missile strike on the Kuwait international airport.

Resting in a coffin, his remains arrived by a passenger flight from Kuwait to Ahmedabad airport before being transported by road in an ambulance to his hometown, said his brother-in-law, who went to receive his body at the airport.

Before being shouldered into his residence, the coffin was briefly opened. Seated among the mourners in the household, his widow, Farida, broke down after taking one last look at her husband, who was to return in much happier circumstances for a family wedding.

Stoned into silence after his tearful homecoming, his family prepared to lay him to rest.

A funeral procession was taken out in the presence of a large number of community members before he was buried at the Begambag cemetery.

According to the family, Manzoor’s brother-in-law, Mohammed Ismail, along with two other persons, reached the Ahmedabad airport in an ambulance to receive his body. “We had to wait for some time after the last remains arrived, as there were some formalities to be taken care of before the handover,” his brother-in-law told TOI.

Thereafter, the body was wheeled via Nagda to Ujjain’s Raj Royal Enclave on Friday afternoon.

Firoz Pathan, a family member, alleged that no officer from the local administration arrived to extend his condolences to the bereaved family, adding, “We pooled Rs 27,000 to arrange for the ambulance that brought him home. Ravi Ray, the Leader of Opposition from the Congress at Ujjain municipal corporation, spoke to the Collector who then assured help. No govt official has yet come forward, assuring financial help to the family. The govt should show more sensitivity and stand with the grief-stricken family.”

A crowd of mourners, including his widow, mother Shamim Bano, daughters Saba Parveen and Sana Parveen, along with son Mohammad Anas and other relatives, were awaiting his coffin. Barely minutes after his coffin arrived home, the kin got busy with the funeral procession.

His cousin Munnawar Hussain Rahmani told TOI that Javed, an acquaintance who runs Malang Al Zaid, a tailoring shop in Kuwait where Manzoor worked, provided monetary support in flying his last remains back to India.

His friend from Kuwait, Mohammad Hanif Quraishi, a native of Hammal Wadi in Ujjain, was also there at his funeral procession. Hanif, who runs a perfume business in Kuwait, said, “We would catch up almost daily in Kuwait. Since I am also from Ujjain, he had a special fondness for me. As I was preparing to return to Ujjain in April, amid the worsening (West Asian) conflict, I asked him to come along. However, he decided not to, citing the inflated flight costs at the time.”

“I was stunned to learn of his death in the tragic incident,” he added.

Not just family members and relatives, even neighbourhood residents came out in large numbers to attend his funeral procession, each taking turns to shoulder the bier for some time upto a distance of about 100 metres. Thereafter, his remains were placed in a vehicle and driven to the cemetery about 4 km away.