Violent protests over Aasia Bibi acquittal hit Pakistan with Rs150 billion in economic losses

Pakistan suffered a massive loss of Rs 150 billion over three days of violent protests staged by religious clerics against a Supreme Court verdict giving freedom to Aasia Bibi, who was on death row following a lower court ruling over blasphemy charges.

The estimated losses occurred due to loss of economic activity in industries and business, a halt in exports and a standstill in services like transport.

“The country’s daily business activities are worth Rs30-40 billion, which means it lost that much amount every day during the protests which paralyzed industrial activities for three days,” Muhammad Danish Khan, President of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), said, according to an Arab News report.

The actual losses might be more than the initial estimates as the militants burnt personal properties and belongings of people and small businesses. According to some experts the country lost as much as Rs300 billion as followers of cleric Khadim Rizvi created all kinds of law and order problems, shuttering down businesses and confining customers, commuters and clients to their homes.

The economic losses are being seen as a huge setback to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s efforts to wriggle the country out of fiscal crisis. His government is also facing criticism for appeasing the instigators after it worked out an agreement to end the protests.

In Karachi and Lahore, the two large economic centers, life came to a halt during three days as violent protesters blocked roads, putting transport off the road, closing educational institutions and disrupting essential services.

Exports take place in a time-sensitive and deadline driven world, and any delay hit exporters hard in the form of storage fees, loss of any products and additional transport charges.

Karachi, which is Pakistan’s gateway of exports to the world, saw the protests spread.

Aasia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, was cleared of all blasphemy charges by the Supreme Court as it found no evidence to back the allegations that stem from a decade-old brawl with Muslim women in Punjab.

But the religious political parties rejected the verdict and only ended the protests after government assurance that it would not oppose a review of the judgement and consider putting Aasia Bibi’s name on no exit list.