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LAHORE / ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan suspended mobile phone networks in major cities on Friday and many schools were closed. Islamist groups protested for the third day against the acquittal of a Christian woman punishable by death for blasphemy.
Supporters of the Pakistani Islamist political party Tehrik-e-Labaik block the junction of Faizabad to protest after the Supreme Court overturns the conviction of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy against Islam in Islamabad, Pakistan, November 1, 2018. REUTERS / Faisal Mahmood
The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of Asia Bibi, a mother of five, and ordered her release. She has been living on death row since 2010 after being sentenced under Pakistan's harsh blasphemy law.
The case scandalized Christians around the world and was a source of division in Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to help Bibi were murdered.
The decision of the Supreme Court enraged extremist Islamists, especially members of a group called Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP), who took to the streets to demand the death of the judges who made the decision and the ousting of the government.
Authorities, including members of the main military security agency, began talks with the group's leader on Thursday but failed to reach an agreement, said TLP leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
The army spokesman said the armed forces hoped that "the issue would be resolved without disturbing the peace".
"The two sides should talk to each other and we should not reach the stage where this issue is in the hands of the armed forces," he told PTV.
On Friday, the telephone networks were down in the capital, Islamabad, and in the eastern city of Lahore, where TLP protesters blocked main roads.
"All services have been shut down by the government," said a customer service representative from one of Pakistan's leading mobile phone companies, without giving more details.
The Pakistani authorities often close the mobile phone networks in the hope of being wary of the organization of demonstrations.
Schools in the most populous province of Punjab have been closed.
In the commercial center of Karachi in the south, the normally lively markets have been closed.
A Reuters photographer saw about a hundred protesters using stones, pieces of wood and motorcycles to create a barricade on a main road.
We do not know where Bibi is on Friday. His family is hidden this week.
Reportage of Drazen Jorgic; Edited by Robert Birsel
