Islamabad: Six people were killed and over 200 injured on Saturday as police launched an operation to clear Islamist protesters from an intersection linking the Pakistani capital with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The protest triggered demonstrators to take to the streets of other cities across the country in solidarity, bringing them to a virtual standstill.
The Pakistani government has called on the military to deploy in the capital Islamabad.
The request was made by Islamabad Capital Territory authorities, according to an interior ministry order, which said the federal government had authorised the deployment of “sufficient troops” to “control law and order” in the city until further notice.
Violent protests erupted across Pakistan on Saturday after security forces launched an early-morning crackdown on thousands of religious demonstrators camped on a highway in the capital.
The authorities ordered private television channels to go off the air.
Roughly 8,500 elite police and paramilitary troops in riot gear were seen throwing rocks and using slingshots in the bid to followers of the cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party who began rallying near Faizabad interchange soon after dawn.
The protests had erupted after the Pakistani Parliament approved an amendment to the electoral law earlier, removing an oath public servants had to take before assuming office, reiterating their belief in Prophet Muhammad.
The amendment was deemed a “clerical error” by the government and was rectified. But the protesters still demand the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for his alleged role in the controversy. They attacked his home in Pasrur but the minister and his family were not present at that time.
Amid the furoure, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal claimed that religious parties protesting in Islamabad had “contacted India”, and that the government was investigating the matter.
“Why they did it, we are looking into it. They have inside information and resources that are being used against the state,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn online.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) prohibited all satellite TV channels from covering the operation at Faizabad. The authority advised media houses to ensure the safety and security of their field staff.
Social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were blocked on web browsers across the country.
Protesters broke the gate of former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar’s residence. They set the gate, a building and a mobile satellite van located near Nisar’s residence ablaze.
He and his family were not at the residence at the time of the incident.
The protesters had been camping since November 8 on the main highway that connects Islamabad to the city of Rawalpindi causing huge traffic snarls that led to the closure of some schools in the capital.
The Islamabad High Court on November 18 directed the local administration to clear protesters from Faizabad, within 24 hours. However, the government did not carry out the orders and initiated several rounds of talks with the protesters to disperse them peacefully, but failed each time.
The operation on Saturday came a day after the court issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to the Interior Minister over his failure to take steps ordered by the court to end the sit-in.