A three-week long protest by Islamist activists near Islamabad, which turned violent on the weekend, was coming to an end on Monday, a senior government official and sources among Islamists told the FT.
A written agreement which ended the deadlock between prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s government and the protestors was finally helped by the influential army’s refusal to deploy its troops for using force against the activists, said the senior government official. A formal announcement was expected later in the day.
As part of the agreement, Zahid Hamid, the controversial law minister, finally agreed to resign. The protests erupted following objections by Islamists over the omission of a clause in a proposed parliamentary bill, which accepts “the unqualified finality of prophet Muhammad as the last messenger” of god. For Muslims, acceptance of prophet Muhammad as the last prophet is central to their faith. Mr Hamid said later that the omission was a “clerical error” which was subsequently corrected.