Islamist protesters in Pakistan have ended a days-long sit in outside the national parliament claiming that the government had given in to a number of their demands, including that a Christian woman accused of blasphemy be hanged.
The protest had begun as a criticism of the February 29 execution Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.
Changes
It turned, however, into a wider protest against changes to the blasphemy law, calling for the implementation of Sharia law and the execution of Asia Bibi who is on death row pending her appeal. The number in the crowd swelled over the course of the protest, reaching a peak of 25,000.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chauhdry Nisar Ali Khan, has, however, denied that any deal has been struck, claiming the demonstrators left on their own accord. “There has been no written or any other form of agreement,” he said, continuing, “We were about to give orders to law enforcement agencies for clearing the area but then two religious personalities intervened.”