LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani security forces swinging batons and firing tear gas moved ahead of dawn on Wednesday to clear sit-ins by protesting Islamists in the garrison town of Rawalpindi and elsewhere after five people were killed in earlier clashes, officials said. .
The government’s action comes two days after the arrest of Saad Rizvi, leader of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party, led to protests by his supporters.
Police cleared a keypath that is blocked by protesters on the outskirts of Islamabad. But they are still trying to bring the situation in Rawalpindi, Lahore and elsewhere under control, officials said.
Two police officers and three other people were killed in the violence that began on Monday after police arrested Rizvi for threatening protests if the government did not expel the French ambassador over depictions of Islam’s prophet Mohammed.
According to police, the arrest of Rizvi was aimed at maintaining law and order. But the arrest of Rizvi quickly provoked violent protests by Islamists. The protesters blocked highways and roads in several cities.
The deadly clashes come three days after Rizvi in a statement asked Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government to keep the promise he made in February. He said Khan had promised his party to oust the French envoy before April 20 over the publication of representations of Islam’s prophet in France. However, the government said it was only committed to discussing the matter in parliament.
The reaction of Rizvi’s supporters against his arrest was so rapid that the police could not remove highways and roads. Thousands of people were trapped in their vehicles. Monday’s clashes initially erupted in Lahore and later spread to other cities, including the southern port city of Karachi.
Rizvi emerged as the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party in November following the sudden death of his father, Khadim Hussein Rizvi. His party wants the government to boycott French products and expel the French ambassador under an agreement the government signed with Rizvi’s party in February.
Tehreek-e-Labiak and other Islamic parties have denounced French President Emmanuel Macron since October last year, saying he had tried to defend the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed as freedom of expression. Macron’s comments come after a young Muslim beheaded a French teacher who displayed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class.
The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the deadly attack on the publication for the original caricatures in 2015. This has angered many Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere who believe these depictions were blasphemous.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.