Pakistan law minister resigns amid blasphemy protests
Updated Nov 27, 2017
Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid has resigned after days of protest rocked the country amid accusations of blasphemy over a proposed change to parliamentary laws.
Hamid handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi early Monday morning, Pakistan State Television PTV reported.
Protesters clashed with security forces over the weekend, demanding Hamid resign because they claimed a change in the wording of the oath of office weakened rules requiring lawmakers to reference the Prophet Mohammed.
At least two people have died and more than 250 others were injured in street demonstrations, according to hospital officials.
The government has apologized and denied making the changes, calling them clerical mistakes.
Over the weekend protesters blocked a key road connecting Islamabad and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi. Pakistani army troops were brought in to help establish "law and order," according to an internal order by the Interior Ministry.
Accusations of blasphemy
For more than two weeks, the protesters had focused their ire on a proposed legislative change they claimed would soften electoral laws. Prompted by radical Islamists, the demonstrators claim the proposed bill was blasphemous because they weakened rules requiring politicians to properly reference the Prophet Mohammed.
Under pressure to appease the protesters, Hamid over the weekend released a video that was shared on social media in which he read the oath and said that he loved the Prophet "from the depth of my heart," adding that he and his family were "prepared to lay down our lives for the honor and sanctity," of Islam's holy Prophet.
The protesters have largely been spurred by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the leader of Tehreek-e Labbaik Pakistan, a hardline Islamist movement.
Speaking to a crowd of protesters on Monday, Rizvi issued a set of demands, including calling on the government to release all protesters who'd been detained by security forces since demonstrations began on November 6.
He said only when that happens will he call off the protests. He gave the government 12 hours to meet his conditions.
Allegations of blasphemy have incited violence in Pakistan in the past. In June this year a 30-year-old man was sentenced to death over a series of Facebook posts that were deemed to use "derogatory remarks ... in respect of the Holy Prophet."
In March 2017, the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said "nothing can be greater than our religion to us" when discussing purportedly blasphemo.
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Updated Nov 27, 2017
Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid has resigned after days of protest rocked the country amid accusations of blasphemy over a proposed change to parliamentary laws.
Hamid handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi early Monday morning, Pakistan State Television PTV reported.
Protesters clashed with security forces over the weekend, demanding Hamid resign because they claimed a change in the wording of the oath of office weakened rules requiring lawmakers to reference the Prophet Mohammed.
At least two people have died and more than 250 others were injured in street demonstrations, according to hospital officials.
The government has apologized and denied making the changes, calling them clerical mistakes.
Over the weekend protesters blocked a key road connecting Islamabad and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi. Pakistani army troops were brought in to help establish "law and order," according to an internal order by the Interior Ministry.
Accusations of blasphemy
For more than two weeks, the protesters had focused their ire on a proposed legislative change they claimed would soften electoral laws. Prompted by radical Islamists, the demonstrators claim the proposed bill was blasphemous because they weakened rules requiring politicians to properly reference the Prophet Mohammed.
Under pressure to appease the protesters, Hamid over the weekend released a video that was shared on social media in which he read the oath and said that he loved the Prophet "from the depth of my heart," adding that he and his family were "prepared to lay down our lives for the honor and sanctity," of Islam's holy Prophet.
The protesters have largely been spurred by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the leader of Tehreek-e Labbaik Pakistan, a hardline Islamist movement.
Speaking to a crowd of protesters on Monday, Rizvi issued a set of demands, including calling on the government to release all protesters who'd been detained by security forces since demonstrations began on November 6.
He said only when that happens will he call off the protests. He gave the government 12 hours to meet his conditions.
Allegations of blasphemy have incited violence in Pakistan in the past. In June this year a 30-year-old man was sentenced to death over a series of Facebook posts that were deemed to use "derogatory remarks ... in respect of the Holy Prophet."
In March 2017, the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said "nothing can be greater than our religion to us" when discussing purportedly blasphemo.
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