LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani security forces swinging sticks and firing tear gas moved ahead of Wednesday morning to clear Islamist protesting settlements in Rawalpindi garrison and elsewhere after five people were killed in previous clashes, officials reported.
The government’s action comes two days after the arrest of Saad Rizvi, leader of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party, which sparked protests by his supporters.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. But they were still trying to control the situation in Rawalpindi, Lahore and other places, officials said.
Two police officers and three others have died in the violence that began Monday after police arrested Rizvi for threatening protests if the government did not expel the French ambassador for the representations of the Prophet Muhammad from Islam.
According to police, Rizvi’s arrest was aimed at maintaining law and order. But Rizvi’s arrest quickly sparked violent protests by Islamists. Protesters blocked roads and highways in several cities.
The deadly clashes come three days after Rizvi in a statement called on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government to honor what he said was a commitment he made in February. He said Khan promised his party to expel the French envoy before April 20 for the publication in France of representations of the Prophet of Islam. Still, the government has said it only promised to debate the issue in Parliament.
Rizvi’s supporters’ reaction to his arrest was so rapid that police were unable to clear major roads and highways. Thousands were trapped in their vehicles. Monday’s clashes initially erupted 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 have denounced French President Emmanuel Macron since October last year, saying he was trying to defend the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as freedom of expression. Macron’s comments came after a young Muslim beheaded a French school teacher who had shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class.
The images had been reissued by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on the occasion of the opening of the trial for the 2015 deadly attack on the publication of the original cartoons. This infuriated many Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere who believe these representations were blasphemous.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.