Pakistan caves to protest demands by forcing out law minister after days of unrest

Source: Washington Post

By Pamela Constable November 27 at 12:59 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Muslim protest movement that paralyzed the capital and convulsed the country for days disbanded peacefully Monday after the government accepted the demonstrators’ main demands, including the resignation of the embattled federal law minister.

But the role of Pakistan’s powerful military in brokering the agreement raised sharp criticism from Pakistan’s judiciary, which accused army officials of an “alarming” reach into politics. Some analysts suggested the army was the real “winner” in the confrontation because it embarrassed the weak civilian government and enhanced the image of the armed forces.

The protesters were enraged over an apparent attempt to change a federal election law in a way that they believed insulted the prophet Muhammad and paved the way for a religious minority group, the Ahmedis, to fully enter the political arena in a country that is 95 percent Muslim.

The leader of the protest movement, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, said he would call off its three-week occupation of a highway interchange outside the capital. A botched operation to break up the protesters on Saturday ended in violence and triggered nationwide sympathy protests, with hundreds injured and at least six people killed over two days.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistan-caves-to-protest-demands-by-forcing-out-law-minister-after-days-of-unrest/2017/11/27/07d51f3e-d377-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html