Pakistan Marks Its I-Day With Bullets, Kashmir, Rape And A Viral Snore

By Ramananda Sengupta

Pakistan celebrated its 77th Independence Day on Wednesday with President Asif Ali Zardari and other leaders pledging support for the people of Kashmir and Palestine, aerial firing in Karachi in which over 70 people — mostly women and children– were hurt, and the discovery of a Belgian woman found abandoned in Islamabad after five days of alleged sexual assault.

“On Tuesday night, over 70 people, including women and children, were injured due to indiscriminate aerial firing across the city during Independence Day festivities,” said The Tribune, Pakistan.

“Two individuals, including a child, were injured by stray bullets in the Nazimabad and Orangi Town areas of Karachi on Wednesday, August 14,” added Express News.

In Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif unfurled the national flag at the Pakistan Monument, with Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem among the various dignitaries in attendance.

Nadeem, who brought home a historic gold medal in the men’s javelin throw at the Paris Olympic Games, took to social media to send a message of unity on the occasion. But he quickly deleted the original version because someone could be heard snoring loudly in the background.

Nadeem is also on the list of 104 national awards announced by President Zardari in his speech. The late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia are among others on the list of awards, to be conferred in March next year, budget permitting.

The military brass too pledged to defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, with honour and dignity, even as a picture of a burly, armed soldier kicking and beating an elderly woman in Balochistan went viral on social media.

Special prayers were offered in mosques across Pakistan for peace, solidarity, and prosperity.

Amidst these celebrations, the police reported that a Belgian woman was found abandoned in Islamabad’s G-6 area after allegedly being sexually assaulted for five days.

According to The Tribune, “the foreign national, whose hands and feet were bound, was left by unidentified individuals who fled the scene. The police were alerted by a resident who called the emergency helpline.

“In her initial statement, the 28-year-old victim recounted that she had been subjected to sexual violence for five consecutive days. The police have transferred her to Polyclinic Hospital for a medical examination.”

Based on her testimony, the police arrested a man identified as Tamizuddin from his residence. He too was taken to the same hospital for a medical examination.

(The story is being republished courtesy StratNews Global)