Blasphemy case: Pak govt tries to avert criticism
: Amid a sense of outrage in many quarters over the deal struck by the Imran Khan government with Islamic hardliners who led protests across Pakistan over the acquittal of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, an operation has been launched to arrest many of those involved in the violence.
The local media reported on Monday that law enforcement agencies continued with a crackdown ordered by the interior ministry against those involved in damaging public and private property after the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case of Asia Bibi. At most places, the protests were led by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religious party.
In Islamabad, police arrested 18 people and identified another 30 for vandalism during protests called by TLP. Police also conducted raids to arrest some 500 individuals.
In Lahore, Punjab Police lodged cases against protesters. More than 2,500 unidentified people and nine leaders of religious parties – including TLP and Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl – were booked for destroying state property and promoting violence in
ISLAMABAD
Gujranwala. The crackdown came as the government released footage of rioters torching vehicles, blocking roads and vandalising property.
But many Pakistanis, including supporters of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, are angry at the way Prime Minister Imran Khan first vowed not to bow to pressure, before his government went ahead and did exactly that in a few days.
Jemima Goldsmith, Khan’s former wife and PTI supporter, severely criticised the government for its handling of the mass protests. She tweeted, “Not the Naya Pakistan we’d hoped for. 3 days after a defiant & brave speech defending the judiciary, Pakistan’s gov caves in to extremist demands to bar #AsiaBibi from leaving Pak, after she was acquitted of blasphemy - effectively signing her death warrant.”
On the defensive, information minister Fawad Chaudhry said the agreement with TLP was “firefighting” and not a permanent solution to the larger problem of extremism. “We need to take steps against extremism, we need to take steps against such violent protesters and we need to come up with a permanent solution,” he said. The government was committed to the cure, which is “the real thing”.