TLYR leaders announce to end 22-day long protest in Islamabad
The announcement came after the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Leaders of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) have on Monday announced to end their 22-day long protest at Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad.
The announcement comes after Law Minister Zahid Hamid sent his resignation to Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while an agreement was also signed between the government and the protesting party‘s leaders.
On the assurance of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, we are calling off the sit-in," Khadim Hussain Rizvi told the crowd of around 2,500 demonstrators, who have occupied a main highway leading into the capital.
He further said, "We have given a 12-hour deadline to the government to release all the arrested workers and meanwhile, we are winding up the things to call-off the protest."
An official announcement will be made once over demands will be implemented, he added.
Agreement between govt and protesting party
Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Federal Interior Secretary Arshad Mirza signed the agreement from government’s side while Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Pir Afzal Qadri and Muhammad Waheed Noor signed the agreement on the behalf of the religious parties.
TLYR demanded Law minister Zahid Hamid should be immediately suspended; the party will not issue any ‘fatwa’ against him.The government has already reinstated amendments to the Election Act 2017 clauses 7A and 7B relating to Khatm-e-Nabuwwat. The government should release the Raja Zafarul Haq‘s report within 30 days.
It also demanded to release the participants of the sit-in and that the charges against them should be dropped. It also asked for the formation of an inquiry team to investigate the security action against TLYR sit-in on November 25. Those responsible should be prosecuted within 30 days.
Law Minister resigns
In a wake to restore peace in the country, Law Minister Zahid Hamid resigned from his office. He has reportedly said that he was resigning only to resolve the current crisis in the country.
He further said that has firm belief in the finality of Prophethood (PBUH) and did not believe that anything he had done was wrong.
Operation against protesters
On Saturday, nearly three weeks after the protests began, around 8,500 armed security personnel finally confronted the protesters, during which at least six people and injuring dozens.
They were met with stubborn resistance, with police and protesters hurling rocks and demonstrators blocking more roads and setting vehicles alight, while calling for reinforcements.
The demonstrations also spread to Pakistan’s two biggest cities, Karachi and Lahore, as well as smaller towns countrywide before security officials were ordered to suspend the operation and the government sought help from the army.
Media blackout
Following the crackdown by the government on Saturday, the fallout as well as ongoing protests that spread across the country were aired by mainstream television news channels. A blanket ban was imposed on mainstream news channels by PEMRA.
The much criticised decision to halt transmission of news channels was taken under the Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015. The decision was strongly condemned by the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) in a statement: “PBA is a signatory to the Code of Conduct that is approved by the Supreme Court and has always been willing to abide by it. The right to information is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution”. “The outright closure of news channels regardless of their content and conduct will not be acceptable by PBA and this action must be reversed immediately.”
On Sunday evening, following much criticism of the decision, restoration of transmission of news channels was ordered by the government.
Faizabad sit-in
Roughly 2,000 protesters from the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan group blocked the main highway used by thousands of commuters since November 6, causing hours-long traffic jams in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The federal government initiated talks with the protesters on several occasions during the last two weeks, but all went in vain. The protesters continuously demanded the resignation from Law Minister Zahid Hamid over the alleged exclusion of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat clause from the nomination papers to which he denies.
Both the parliament houses had restored the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat clause in the nomination papers in its original form through the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2017.
