Pakistan votes for Lahore by-election: Polls seen as test of support for Sharif

Agencies
September 17, 2017

Lahore, Sept 17: Pakistanis began casting votes on Sunday for the parliamentary seat vacated by ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a by-election seen as a test of support for the Sharif dynasty ahead of the 2018 general election.

Sharif’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party hopes a resounding victory in the eastern city of Lahore would show that support for the family was undiminished despite the Supreme Court’s removal of Sharif in July.

Sharif’s daughter Maryam has spearheaded the PML-N campaign for her mother Kulsoom - who is the PML-N candidate despite receiving cancer treatment in London with Nawaz at her side.

Maryam, who some PML-N leaders see as a future leader, has framed the poll as a chance for voters to give a bloody nose to the judiciary by handing the party a thumping victory.

“Will you take revenge for your disrespected vote?” Maryam asked supporters at a recent rally.

Opposition leader Imran Khan - whose threats of street protests pushed the Supreme Court to launch a probe into Nawaz’s wealth - is seeking to build on the success of his anti-graft crusade by making inroads into Sharifs’ power base in Punjab.

The Supreme Court in July disqualified Sharif because he did not declare a monthly salary, equivalent to $2,722, from a company owned by his son when the veteran leader, who had held power twice in the 1990s, became prime minister for the third time. Sharif denies receiving the salary.

Khan has turned the by-election into a plebiscite about corruption, and has accused the provincial Punjab government, which is run by Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz, of abusing state resources to help the PML-N campaign.

“Your prime minister owns some of the most expensive real estate in the world - all in his daughter’s name. Meanwhile half the children of this country are malnourished,” Khan told a rally on Saturday.

Analysts predict PML-N will win again but they say Khan’s party would build momentum ahead of the 2018 poll if PTI candidate Yasmin Rashid, a gynecologist from the area, substantially reduces the PML-N’s 40,000 vote-winning margin from 2013.

“PTI would be very happy if the margin ended up being small. That would be a victory for them,” said Hasan Askri a political analyst.

Many of the 321,633 registered voters in the central Lahore NA-120 consituency are conflicted.

“My head goes towards PTI while my heart goes towards PML-N,” said Ali Raza, 25, a bank employee.

Kulsoom and Rashid will be competing against about 40 other candidates, including religious parties. One candidate is backed by a new party that is led by an Islamist firebrand who is subject to a $10 million bounty offered by the United States.

Hafiz Saeed heads the Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD) charity, having founded and formerly led the Lashkhar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group that carried out the 2008 attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. The United States has placed Saeed, the charity and LeT on a terrorist list.

Voting began at 9am (0400 GMT) and the polls are due to close at 5pm, with results likely to be announced after midnight.

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News Network
November 7,2024

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Mangaluru, Nov 7: In the quiet village of Tippunagar, Loretto Padavu, a heartbreaking accident claimed the life of three-year-old Aashika on Wednesday, leaving a family and community shattered.

Aashika, the beloved daughter of Unais from Pattanabailu near Farangipet, was simply enjoying a carefree moment, playing outside her grandmother’s house. It was then that an unimaginable tragedy struck: a parked goods tempo, owned by her uncle, unexpectedly rolled backward, trapping the innocent child beneath its wheels.

Despite her family’s desperate rush to get her to the hospital, little Aashika’s injuries proved too severe, and she was declared dead upon arrival. Her passing has cast a deep shadow over the close-knit community, who grieve alongside her family for the life taken too soon.

The Bantwal traffic police have registered a case and are investigating the incident, while the community mourns the loss of a precious young soul who had only just begun to experience life’s wonder.
 

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News Network
November 4,2024

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Bengaluru: In a chilling case of moral policing gone violent, three men have been arrested for the brutal murder of a 21-year-old college student at a farmhouse near Bengaluru. The accused, identified as Chandru, Nagesh, and Murali from Honnapura, allegedly killed the student, Punith, following an altercation.

Punith, a BCom student at a private college, had gone to the Chikkenahalli Farmhouse on October 26 with seven classmates, including two women, for a casual outing. According to police reports, the group was enjoying their time when the accused, all locals, became aware of the gathering.

At around 10:30 pm, the three men stormed the farmhouse and began recording videos of Punith’s female classmates, who were in the swimming pool. They verbally abused the students, questioning their presence and demanding to know who had permitted them to use the farmhouse.

When Punith protested against their actions, the situation escalated violently. He was viciously attacked with a wooden log, sustaining severe head injuries. Punith was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries three days later. Another student, Likith, was also assaulted but suffered only minor injuries.

The Ramanagara Rural police have registered a case of murder against the suspects, who are now in custody. Further investigations are ongoing.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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