Pakistan deploys troops against violent protesters

Pakistani troops clash with protesters
(Image credit: Aamir Qureshi/Getty Images)

The Pakistani government on Sunday deployed paramilitary forces under military command to respond to protesters who blocked a major highway, set vehicles on fire, and attacked a police checkpoint. At least six protesters were killed in the initial clash and about 200 more people were injured.

The demonstrators have been in the streets for weeks rallying against a proposed parliamentary rule change that would no longer require lawmakers to mention the Prophet Mohammed while taking their oath of office. Protesters have accused the Pakistani law minister, Zahid Hamid, of blasphemy over the proposal and have demanded his resignation.

Hamid issued an apology video Sunday in which he pledged his love for the prophet "from the depth of my heart" and declared his entire family ready to die for Mohammed's honor.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.