Supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan group attacked a police station near their meeting place and on April 18 took over.
An illegal Islamist political party released 11 police officers a day after being abducted in the eastern city of Lahore during a series of violent security and security operations, the interior minister said on April 19.
Supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan group attacked a police station near their meeting place and on April 18 took away police officers. The group opposes the arrest of its leader, Saad Rizvi, and pressures the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to immediately expel the French envoy over the publication of pornographic images.
Initially, police said protesting Muslims arrested five police officers.
But in a video message, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said Rizvi's supporters had actually taken 11 police officers. They were released after a successful first interview with the government, which produced a photo claiming that it showed the police had been abused.
The tense situation stems from last year's statement by a French leader in an attempt to prevent the publication of pornographic images by a blasphemous newspaper, which has issued a condemnation of the Islamic world.
Mr Ahmad said protesters since last Monday had blocked roads and highways in 192 areas, but security forces had removed 191 of their homes in recent days. He hoped that the last troubling point in Lahore, where Rizvi's supporters were still meeting, would be cleared up as negotiations between Rizvi's representatives and the Punjab government continued.
Mr Ahmad's remarks came just hours after police and paramilitary forces stormed the barracks, fired tear gas and used firearms to fight protesters, killing three Muslims and injuring dozens more. Authorities said they were responding to an attack on Rizvi's supporters at the police station and the arrest of 11 police officers, including Deputy Superintendent Umar Farooq Baluch.
In the release of the hostages, the government created a public image of a group of former captives bound in the head, hands or arms. According to police, the abducted police officers were harassed by Rizvi's men.
Angered by the performance of security forces in support of Rizvi supporters, South African political parties have declared a national strike, urging commuters not to take to the streets and urging businessmen to keep markets closed on April 19. and elsewhere.
The situation has been tense in Pakistan since last week when Rizvi's supporters disrupted normal life in various parts of the country by blocking highways, colliding with police and leaving four policemen dead. So far at least six protesters have died, prompting the government to order the media not to prosecute Rizvi's party.
Representatives of the media have criticized the government's ban on the media.
Rizvi was arrested just days after he asked the government to honor what he said was a February commitment to his party to expel on April 20 a French ambassador for the letter.
Rizvi's party said the government had agreed to an agreement in which he would expel the French ambassador before April 20. Instead, the government arrested their leader before the deadline. The government has said it is committed to discussing the matter only in Parliament.
Rizvi's party supports the country's defamatory laws and has a history of conducting violent rallies to influence the government. Criticized French President Emmanuel Macron since October last year, saying he had tried to protect caricatures.
Posts
