Violent protests erupted across Pakistan on Saturday after security forces launched an early-morning crackdown on thousands of religious demonstrators camped on a highway in the capital in which a policeman was killed and 200 hundred people were injured. The authorities ordered private television channels to go off the air.
Roughly 8,500 elite police and paramilitary troops in riot gear were seen throwing rocks and using slingshots in the bid to followers of the cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party who began rallying near Faizabad interchange soon after dawn.
The protests had erupted after the Pakistani Parliament approved an amendment to the electoral law earlier, removing an oath public servants had to take before assuming office, reiterating their belief in Prophet Muhammad.
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The amendment was deemed a "clerical error" by the government and was rectified. But the protesters still demand the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for his alleged role in the controversy. They attacked his home in Pasrur but the minister and his family were not present at that time.
Security forces resorted to rubber-bullets after the protesters put up the resistance. The law enforcement agencies lobbed tear gas shells and used water cannons to disperse the crowd. In return, the demonstrators pelted stones on the security personnel.
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