Summary The Islamabad Highway was back to normal on Tuesday.
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Commuters were jubilant Tuesday as a main highway into Islamabad reopened three weeks after Tehreek-e-Labaik sit-in blocked it, as uneasy soul-searching grew among many Pakistanis over the government’s capitulation to the protest demands.
The Islamabad Highway, used daily by thousands travelling from the garrison city of Rawalpindi into the Pakistani capital, was back to normal Tuesday, with traffic flowing, shops open, and sanitation workers cleaning up the mess left behind by the protesters.
READ: TLYR leaders announce to end 22-day long protest in Islamabad
The previously little-known group Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRA) had virtually paralysed Islamabad, where there is little in the way of public transportation. Drivers were forced to go hours out of their way on overcrowded, potholed sideroads unsuited for heavy traffic.
"Everything clear and moving. Its (sic) good to be back in route," commuter Nauman Naseer posted on a Facebook traffic updates group.
ZAHID HAMID’S RESIGNATION
TLYRA had demanded the resignation of Pakistan’s law minister Zahid Hamid over a small, hastily-reversed amendment to the oath election candidates must swear.
The government was forced to seek help from the military after a bungled attempt to clear the sit-in over the weekend devolved into deadly violence.
The law minister resigned on Monday, with protest leaders saying the government would meet all their demands in a deal the army helped broker.
READ: Govt, religious parties strike deal to end sit-in
Many of the protesters chanted "Long live the Pakistan Army!" as they dispersed, AFP reporters saw.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also returned to the country Tuesday, the country’s information minister said, after flying to Saudia Arabia Monday for a long-planned trip as the deal was announced.
