Crackdown on hardliners triggers violent clashes across Pakistan
Violent clashes broke out in cities across Pakistan on Saturday after police moved to clear out a sit-in protest by hardline Islamists in the capital Islamabad.
Several thousand protesters from the little-known Tehreek-i-Labaik have brought the city to a virtual standstill since November 6 and armed police and paramilitary units moved to disperse them on Saturday morning.
But the confrontation quickly turned violent as security forces fired teargas and rubber bullets and the protesters tore through the streets setting fire to police cars.
At least six people were killed in the clashes in Islamabad and 139 people were wounded, mostly from the security forces, according to hospital officials.
The violence spread to several other Pakistani cities as other demonstrators took to the streets in solidarity with the Islamabad sit-in.
Hospital officials said at least 139 people had been wounded, mostly security forces. In Karachi at least nine people were injured after 200 demonstrators blocked a major road. Clashes were also reported in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, and several smaller towns throughout the country.
The Islamist demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Zahid Hamid, the justice minister, after his ministry made a slight change to an oath that Pakistanis must swear in order to get a passport or run for office.
The oath declares that the spiritual leader of the Ahmadi movement, a Muslim minority group, is a false prophet. The change to the oath, which was quickly reversed, downgraded its opening from “I solemnly declare” to “I believe”.
The Ahmadi are widely discriminated against in Pakistan and hardline Islamists took the tweak to be a sign that the government was softening its position against them.
Javed Latif, a government MP, told The Telegraph that his home had been attacked by the demonstrators. Other MPs have also reportedly been attacked.
Pakistan’s politically beleaguered has been hesitant to take on the Islamists for fear of sparking violent confrontations. Police suspended their operations in Islamabad after the clashes spiraled out of control.
