Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tens of thousands mourn radical cleric's death in Pakistan

Tens of thousands of mourners have thronged the funeral of a radical cleric in Pakistan whose Islamist party has defended the country's controversial blasphemy law that calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam

Via AP news wire
Saturday 21 November 2020 12:09 GMT
Pakistan
Pakistan (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Tens of thousands of mourners on Saturday thronged the funeral of a radical cleric whose Islamist party has defended Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law that calls for the death penalty for insulting Islam.

The mourners gathered in the eastern city of Lahore where the Islamist scholar and leader, Khadim Hussein Rizvi, died two days ago at the age of 54.

Rizvi’s party, Tehreek-e-Labiak, holds only two seats in parliament, but his movement has repeatedly pressed its cause by staging large-scale demonstrations.

Rizvi led last Sunday thousands of his supporters at a sit-in in the capital of Islamabad protesting the republishing in France of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which he deemed blasphemous. Demonstrators briefly clashed with security forces at the rally, which was one in a wave of protests across the country expressing outrage over the caricatures.

Pakistan's government promised on Tuesday that the protesters' demands for cutting diplomatic ties with France and expelling the French ambassador would be discussed in parliament soon. A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Labiak, said the government had also agreed to release any party members detained at the recent protests.

The radical Islamist party gained prominence in Pakistan’s 2018 elections, campaigning on a single-point agenda of defending the country’s blasphemy law.

In November 2017, its followers staged a 21-day protest and sit-in after a reference to the sanctity of the Prophet Muhammad was removed from the text of a government form.

Rizvi led the protests last year, after Pakistani authorities freed Aasia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman held on death row for eight years on charges of committing blasphemy. A court acquitted her but she had to flee to Canada after threats to her life.

The prophet caricatures published in France sparked protests across Asia and the Middle East, with calls for the boycott of French products. They were also seen as the trigger for several deadly attacks against French nationals and interests in recent weeks.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in