Islamist protesters gathered in the Pakistani capital ended their days-long sit-in yesterday after claiming the government had agreed to a number of their demands including the hanging of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chauhdry Nisar Ali Khan denied however that a deal had been struck, saying the demonstrators left “on their own accord”.
The protesters — who numbered some 25,000 at their peak — had gathered Sunday in support of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in late February five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the country’s blasphemy laws.
The demonstrators clashed with security forces in Islamabad before setting up camp outside key government buildings along the capital’s main Constitution Avenue.
Ashraf Asif Jalali, one of the protest’s main leaders, told reporters at the protest site Wednesday evening: “As a result of the continuous four-day sit-in, the government has accepted our demands.”
“Nobody involved in blasphemy against the Holy Prophet will be given concessions, whether they be Asia Bibi or anybody else,” he added, referring to a Christian woman on death row since 2010 over a dispute with Muslim women involving a bowl of water.
However the interior minister denied any such deal was made.
“There has been nor written or any other form of agreement,” Khan said.
“We were about to give orders to law enforcement agencies for clearing the area but then two religious personalities intervened.”
The minister added that the protesters then decided to leave on their “own accord”.
The stand-off came as Pakistan mourned more than 70 people killed in a Taliban suicide bombing targeting Christians celebrating Easter Sunday in Lahore, underscoring deep religious divisions fuelling the country’s long battle with extremism.