Sharif Claims Early Victory in May 11 Elections

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, have declared victory in the historic general elections that was held on Saturday, May 11.

There was a huge turnout of about 60 percent of over 86 million eligible voters at the polling stations, amid threats of unending violence from the Pakistani Taliban.

The Election Commission praised the Pakistanis who came out to vote, citing that the turnout was the highest since 1977, despite the wave of violence that had at least 30 people killed in a series of gun and suicide attacks at polling stations across the country.

 
According to preliminary results, Sharif’s party took a promising lead, making it an assurance that he will be on the seat of power for a third time. But, the majorit

Sharif addressed his supporters at his campaign headquarters in Lahore, saying that the party thanks Allah for the opportunity to serve Pakistan again.

“Through this vote and campaign, I have felt how much love Pakistan has for me. And I have twice as much love for you.”

He added, “Thank God that he has given us the chance to help you to help Pakistan, to help the young people. We will fulfill all the promises that we have made.”

Policy director at Just Foreign Policy rights organization, Robert Naiman said that the success of MPL-N and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) may be in part because they made changing Pakistan’s strained relationship with the US a key plank in their campaigns.

He predicted that Pakistanis are unhappy with the “perception of subservience, the premendously unpopular drone strikes. And that we will see change in that direction under the Sharif government with Khan as the main opposition party.”

Sharif has urged Pakistanis to pray for a government that can be made theirs without compromises. He explained that a strong government cannot be made if they have to ask for seats, adding that his party would settle their differences.

 
“We forgive anyone who has abused us along the way, and we have not cursed anyone. We want to get Pakistan out of trouble. We have a program to change the state of Pakistan. We must make a decision to change this country…. To other parties, I say come and sit at the table,” he said

Bangladesh Disaster: Female Survivor Found 17 Days Later

17 days after the Bangladesh tragedy that saw the death toll rise over 1,000 people, police and military officials said they have rescued a woman from the rubble of the garment factory building.

Reshma Begum, a seamstress who was working on the third floor of the factory,cried out for help as the rescuers continued to search the rubble for survivors days after the collapse.

Army engineers pulled her from the basement of the building after a workman helping to clear the wreckage reported hearing her faint cries for help from beneath the ruins.

"I heard the sound and rushed towards the spot. I knelt down and heard a faint voice. Sir, please help, she cried," Abdur Razzaq, an army sergeant told Guardian.

He said that Begum has been hitting the concrete with the pipe to alert approaching rescue workers and he heard the sound after the bulldozers lifted loose rubble that had been covering the spot.

He added that she had stayed alive on biscuits in the rucksacks of dead colleagues and drinking rainwater.

There were loud cheers from hundreds of onlookers as she was removed and taken to a military hospital.

"It is incredible that someone could have survived in the wreckage 408 hours after the building came down. Her will to live is amazing. We've given her oxygen and she has been rushed to hospital," Lieutenant Shah Jamal told reorters.

So far, more than 2,500 people have been rescued in the aftermath of the collapse, with about a thousand of them suffering very serious injuries as some of the survivors had to be rescued by severing their limbs trapped under the rubble.

About nine people have been arrested in connection with the tragedy, while Primark and Canadian-owned Loblaw have said that they will compensate victims of the disaster,  the worst disaster that has ever plagued the country.

Only in November, 114 people were killed in  a garment factory fire, while there have been 8 deaths earlier this week from a similar garment factory fire.

Bangladesh Jamaat Leader Handed the Death Penalty

Assistant secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, has been handed the death penalty by a Bangladesh war crimes tribunal for war crimes against humanity.

Kamaruzzaman, who has claimed his trial is politically motivated, was convicted on five counts of torture, rape, kidnapping and genocide of at least 120 unarmed Bangladeshi farmers in Sohagpur village.

He was accused of being the mastermind behind the creation of the al-Badr, a killer squad of the Pakistani army that committed mass murder during the 1971 war for independence.

Chief defence counsel Abdur Razzaq said, “He was just a lad during the war. It’s a ridiculous suggestion that a 19-year-old could control the Pakistani army.”

According to an interview held by Al Jazeera with a top analyst, David Bergman, he said, “The Jamaat-e-Islami will not be happy with this verdict, but it is unclear at this point whether there will be violence.”

He also added, “There has been constant criticism from the defence lawyers that they are dealing with a politicized court process and that they are being prosecuted because they are part of an alliance that is against the government.”

He told the correspondent that despite the loud cheers outside the court after the verdict was announced, the defence, however, is extremely critical of the judgment and cannot believe so much responsibility is being placed on a man who was just 19 at the time the crime was committed.

The war tribunal, which was established in 2010 by the government to put under trial Bangladesh natives charged with collaborating with Pakistani forces in an attempt to prevent the independence of East Pakistan, have convicted three other Islamists that play key roles in the affairs of the Jamaat party.

Only in February, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a Jamaat leader, was handed the penalty for his war crimes. There are indications that Kamaruzzaman’s conviction will increase the tension between police and Islamist protesters as there have been deadly clashes between the two parties in Dhaka.

According to official statistics, about three million people died in the nine-month Bangladesh secession war, while independent researchers said that the number of deaths were about half a million

Former Pakistan PM’s Son Abducted at Election Rally

Ex Prime Minister Raza Gilani

There has been a report that the son of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been abducted by unidentified gunmen during his own campaign rally at their hometown of Multan on Thursday.

A candidate for the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), Ali Haider was kidnapped in an ensuing gunfire during the rally. His secretary was reported to have been killed in the process, leaving several others with scores of injuries.

Police officer Khurram Shakur told reporters that people came on a motorbike and a black Honda car. Then, they opened fire at the rally, and abducted Gilani’s son, Ali Haider in the car.

Eyewitnesses added that Ali Haider was injured in the gun attack, as he was bleeding when his abductors put him in the car.

Mr Gilani has accused his political rivals as being the perpetrators of the crime, ahead of Saturday’s elections.

“We want our brother back tonight. If we don’t get him, we will not allow elections to be held in our area,” elder brother of Haider, Musa, told reporters in tears.

“There is a war going on between pro- and anti-Taliban forces in this country. They have captured the son of our leader. We are saddened by this and praying that he is safely recovered”, former interior minister Rehman Malik told an Al Jazeera correspondent.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Although, the Pakistani Taliban has promised to dispatch suicide bombers to carry out attacks at the upcoming election, as they have threatened to prevent all parties from conducting any election.

Pakistani Prisoner Dies in Hospital after Attack in Jail

After he was attacked by another inmate in Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu last week, Pakistani Prisoner Sanaullah Haq died in the hospital overnight, officials said.

Sanuallah died on Wednesday night from renal failure in a hospital in Chandigarh city of India, from serious head injuries he received in an attack by another inmate. According to a senior doctor, his condition was extremely critical.

Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir states, wrote on twitter, “Although it’s a scant consolation, I’d like to offer a sincere apology to the family of Sanaullah Haq and my sympathies for their loss.”

The attack, which happened when a row brewed between Sanaullah and a murder convict, occurred on May 3, the day an Indian prisoner was cremated in India after dying from a similar attack in a Pakistani jail.

It will be recalled that Sarabjit Singh, who was convicted for spying in 1991, was attacked with bricks by inmates in Kot Lakhpat  jail in Lahore only a week earlier. The attack on Sanuallah is seen as a form of revenge for the death of Sarabjit in Pakistan.

India Supreme Court said they have been more concerned why such incidents are happening in jails, as the lives of inmates are constantly put in danger. They added that it is a serious matter and can’t be accepted.

Only last week, Pakistan called on India to punish the attacker, saying that the assault was “condemnable”. During the weekend, protests were carried out in Kashmir over the attack on Sanuallah.

New Delhi has announced that the attack is being investigated, and the “guilty will be punished”