Islamabad sit-in: Pak govt buys more time

The Pakistan government has again bought some time to negotiate with Islamic hardliners who have blocked a major traffic intersection in the national capital, with the Islamabad high court extending its deadline to clear the area.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court also took notice of the sit-in by hundreds of members of the Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan party, or Movement of the Prophet’s Followers, in support of the country’s strict blasphemy laws.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa took notice of the protracted protest while hearing a case and directed the defence and interior secretaries to submit a detailed report by November 23.

The protest has virtually paralysed Islamabad for a fortnight, with followers of a radical cleric blocking the road that connects the city to the airport in Rawalpindi.

The government is under mounting pressure to end the protest in an area called Faizabad. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who wants to avoid police action, has enlisted the help of pro-government clerics who promised a resolution in the next few days by convening a grand meeting.

The protesters have been demanding the resignation of law minister Zahid Hamid for allegedly altering the electoral oath of lawmakers with regard to “Finality of the Prophethood” – a change the government has described as a “clerical error” and has already reversed. The government has agreed to the recommendation of the clerics to form an Ulema committee headed by Pir Haseenuddin Shah to propose a comprehensive solution.

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