LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani security forces tying sticks and tear gas moved before dawn on Wednesday to wipe out protests by Islamists in Rawalpindi garrison and elsewhere after five people were killed in previous clashes , officials said.
The government’s action comes two days after the arrest of Saad Rizvi, the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party, sparked protests by his supporters.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. But they are still trying to control the situation in Rawalpindi, Lahore and elsewhere, officials said.
Two police officers and three others were killed in the violence that began Monday after police arrested Rizvi for threatening protests if the government failed to expel the French ambassador over the descriptions of Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
According to police, Rizvi’s arrest was aimed at maintaining law and order. But Rizvi’s detention quickly sparked violent protests by Islamists. Protesters blocked highways and roads in several cities.
The deadly clashes come three days after Rizvi, in a statement, called on the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to honor what he said was a commitment he made in February. He said Khan had promised his party that he would expel the French envoy before April 20 for the publication in France of the prophet’s descriptions of Islam. However, the government said it was only committed to discussing the issue in parliament.
Rizvi’s supporters’ reaction to his arrest was so rapid that police could not clear highways and main roads. Thousands of people were trapped in their vehicles. Monday’s clashes initially broke out in Lahore and later spread to other cities, including the southern port city of Karachi.
Rizvi emerged as the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party in November after the sudden death of his father, Khadim Hussein Rizvi. His party wants the government to boycott French products and expel the French ambassador under an agreement signed by the government with Rizvi’s party in February.
Tehreek-e-Labiak and other Islamist parties denounced French President Emmanuel Macron in October last year, saying he was trying to defend the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad as freedom of expression. Macron’s comments came after a young Muslim man beheaded a French schoolteacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class.
The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial for the 2015 deadly attack against the publication for the original cartoons. This has angered many Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere who believe these descriptions have been blasphemous.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.