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Lahore erupts in protest as former PM Nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz arrested

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Here’s what is happening across the border: Suicide bombing in Balochistan kills 128 and Imran Khan smells a rat in violence before Sharif arrest.

Sharif and his daughter held soon after their arrival in Lahore

Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz were arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) soon after their arrival in Lahore Friday and taken to Islamabad in a chartered flight, reported Dawn.

As soon as their flight landed in Lahore, a team of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seized Nawaz and his daughter’s passports. They had completed the immigration formalities on board the plane.

From the Islamabad airport, the two were taken in separate convoys to the Central Jail in Adiala, Rawalpindi, for a medical examination.

Lahore erupts in protest

The Punjab government’s crackdown on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to keep its workers from moving towards the airport to receive former PM Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz did not fetch results as there was a huge turnout on road. The crowd went in solidarity with their leaders.

PML-N workers and police in Lahore and other districts of Punjab picked up several clashes. Over two dozen workers and 20 policemen were hurt in clashes, reported Dawn

Police locked down Lahore by closing all the entry points in a bid to stop PML-N supporters from reaching the city from other parts of the country. The procession that began Friday afternoon from Lohari Gate was led by PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif. Several Senior party leaders followed one another.

Nawaz Sharif’s admirer Ayub Bhutta, who reached Lohari Gate at 8 am, said, “I cannot bear seeing my leader behind bars. I will fast until death to lodge my protest,” he told Dawn.

“I will go to the airport by hook or by crook since my leader will address us,” councillor Jamila Begum told Dawn.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif’s son Suleman also tried to reach the airport along with his grandmother, Begum Shamim Akhtar to see Nawaz and Maryam.

Imran Khan smells a rat in violence before Sharif arrest

Twitter saw Pakistan leaders react in a myriad manner to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz returning to the country to face their jail terms in the Avenfield case. While some applauded their courage, other said the corrupted had finally been brought to the book. But Imran Khan hinted that he smelled a rat in the violence occurring before Sharif’s arrest.

His party called Nawaz and Maryam’s arrest a good omen for Pakistan.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the arrest of the PML(N) workers in light of the arrest. She was seconded by PPP stalwart Sherry Rehman.

However, PML(N) still showed its support for its leader and tweeted that Pakistan stands by the father-daughter duo.

Suicide bombing kills over 100 in Balochistan

A suicide blast in Mastung claimed 128 lives including that of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate Nawabzada Siraj Raisani in Darengarh in Balochistan Friday, Dunya News reported.

The attack also injured more than hundred in the Darengarh area incident which used around 10 kg of explosives and ball bearings were used in the blast.

Nawabzada Siraj Raisani was the younger brother of former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani.

This is the second such incident in a week where an electoral candidate has been killed during pre-election violence. The previous blast saw ANP leader Haroon Bilouri loose his life along with 19 others.

Will go to jail with my children, says Nawaz Sharif’ mother

Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s mother Shamim Akhtar, in a video message, swore to go behind the bars if her son gets arrested, reported The News.

Akhtar in her video message said that she will not let Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retired) Muhammad Safdar go to jail. She further asserted that she has faith that all three are innocent and Allah would protect them. “Tormentors should fear Allah’s wrath,” she added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f4WS7TGEEE

“The court’s verdict mentions that the corruption has not been proven, then what is the punishment for?” she asked, adding that her children are being punished for being loyal to their country.

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leader claims Taliban present in Waziristan

Pashtun leader Mansoor Pashteen claimed that Talibans have been entering Waziristan but no one has been reporting it.

Mansoor is seen talking to the press in the video where he says he has been trying to bring the media’s attention to this presence of the Talibans in the region for the past two months. He mentioned an attack on Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) members during Ramzan, leading to the death of 11, which went unreported.

He blamed the party in power for inciting violence in the country and said that if the power politics keeps going on in this fashion, he will not tolerate it and will take to ‘resistance’ to make their voices heard.

Pakistan and China start communication link with optical cables

Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk inaugurated the Pak-China Optical Fibre Cable (OPC) project Friday, reported Dawn. The OPC will establish a first land-based communication link between Pakistan and China.

After the signing of the deal in April 2007 between Pakistan’s Special Communication Organisation and China Telecom, the project was approved in 2010. It took two years to complete the project.

OPC has connected Rawalpindi in Punjab to Khunjerab of Gilgit–Baltistan with an 820–km-long underground OPC. It has also connected Karimabad in the Hunza valley to Khunjerab with a 172-km aerial OFC link.

According to the newspaper, the project will help in enhancing the telecom sector in Gilgit– Baltistan region as well as provide security to the schemes falling under the umbrella of China Pakistan Economic Order (CPEC).

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the project, Mulk said the project is “developing telecom sector in Northern Areas and regions along the CPEC route” and this would “play a pivotal role for security requirements of CPEC projects”.

In his address, Chinese ambassador Yao Jing said that OFC was one of the nine projects to be completed under the CPEC.


Contributors: Sharanya Munsi, Manisha Mondal, Rupanwita Bhattacharjee, Anagha Deshpande, Soniya Agrawal, Hansa Kapoor and Alind Chauhan.

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