ANTI-BLASPHEMY PROTESTS IN ISLAMABAD TURN VIOLENT
Hundreds occupying roads, but military unresponsive despite govt’s request for help
ISLAMABAD
PAKISTAN’S capital was tense yesterday after attempts to disperse antiblasphemy protests by Islamists ended in deadly violence, as the military appeared hesitant to respond to a government call for help.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of demonstrators were still occupying roads and intersections connecting Islamabad with neighbouring Rawalpindi, with protesters posting videos late Saturday night of funeral prayers being recited at a sit-in.
Demonstrators have blocked a major highway, paralysing Islamabad for weeks. Security forces moved to clear it on Saturday, but were met with stubborn resistance by protesters who torched vehicles and threw stones.
At least six people were killed and around 230 injured before security forces retreated on Saturday. Hospitals said most of the wounded had been released yesterday, with only around 20 still needing treatment.
An Interior Ministry order said the government had authorised the deployment of “sufficient troops” to “control law and order” here until further notice.
But as at yesterday, there was no official military response and no sign of armoured vehicles or soldiers on the streets. A military spokesman declined repeated requests for comment.
In the space of three weeks, a simple demonstration here has turned into a national crisis.
On Nov 6, roughly 2,000 members of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLY) began a sit-in here.
They are a little-known hardline group led by firebrand ulama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who is widely mocked for heaping abusive language on his opponents.
TLY launched its sit-in after the government amended the oath that election candidates must swear. The change was small, called a mistake, and quickly reversed.
But demonstrators linked it to blasphemy, a sensitive charge that often fuelled deadly violence in conservative Muslim Pakistan.
They claim the oath was softened to enable the participation of Ahmadis, a long-persecuted Islamic minority sect.
They are demanding that Law Minister Zahid Hamid resign over the amendment.
As the protests spread on Saturday, TLY ulama began calling for Pakistanis to defend the “honour of the Prophet”.
The sit-in became increasingly frustrating for commuters trapped for hours daily by the road blockade. As the judiciary blasted officials for their inertia, conspiracy theories swirled over who was supporting the small number of protesters.
On Saturday, nearly three weeks after protests began, some 8,500 armed security personnel, including police and the paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps, finally confronted the Islamists.
They were met with stubborn resistance, with police and protesters hurling rocks and demonstrators blocking more roads and setting vehicles alight, while calling for reinforcements.
The demonstrations spread to Pakistan’s two biggest cities, Karachi and Lahore, as well as smaller towns before security officials were ordered to suspend the operation and the government sought help from the army.
When the sit-in began, authorities insisted on peacefully negotiating with protesters, as politicians eye elections next year.
Pakistan’s civilian government have long pulled its punches in such situations, fearing that a crackdown on the religious group would incite blowback, as it had in the past.
Critics warned that this would allow extremism to flourish. AFP