A crowd of religious zealots blocking entrance to capital Islamabad for weeks turned violent Saturday in the face of Police crackdown after which the government deployed army to quell the protesters.
The protesters belonging to Tehreek-e-Labaiq had choked off the main Faizabad Interchange which connects Islamabad with Rawalpindi and through it with other parts of the country.
Saturday’s court-ordered crackdown came after repeated government and civil society calls for the crowd – agitating over omission of a clause in the oath for politicians regarding the finality of prophethood – to clear the route as the reference in the oath had been restored.
مری روڈ پر پیٹرول پمپ کو آگ لگا دی گئی۔ pic.twitter.com/pRJIIkPnEn
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) November 25, 2017
A police officer was reportedly killed when someone in the crowd pelted a stone on his head.
The protesters hurled stones at police and attacked the law enforcement vehicles in the showdown with police. They also set a gas station on fire. Police used batons and tear gas shells to break up the protest rally that has laid a virtual siege to the capital.
Meanwhile, sympathizers of the protesters staged demonstrations in other cities including Lahore, Karachi and Sialkot, demanding resignation of the federal law minister.
The crisis is an embarrassment for the government, which has faced public criticism over handling of the crowd.
