Pakistani law minister Zahid Hamid resigns to end Islamabad protest
Islamabad, November 27: The protesters have paralyzed daily life in Pakistan capital, and have defied court orders to disband, demanding that the minister of law fired. Several were killed and hundreds were injured during the Saturday clearance operation in Islamabad and clashes in other cities.
After his resignation, the government and protestors signed an agreement to put an end to the three-week long sit-in protest which has blocked major traffic conjunction between Islamabad and its sister city of Rawalpindi, according to local reports.
The religious groups Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY), called off sit-ins that have been hampering daily life in cities across the country after their list of demands were accepted by the government.
The agreement lauded efforts of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for playing key role in peacefully ending the stand-off, which became possible after an important meeting between Bajwa and Abassi yesterday.
The Pakistani government last month passed a religion-related bill which triggered strong opposition from religious community. The government later retracted the bill, but some religious groups further demanded the resignation of the law minister and staged the sit-in protest for almost three weeks.
The government took a clearance operation on Saturday after several rounds of negotiations with the protestors. However, the operation triggered more protests in major cities across the country.