Normalcy returns as protests end across country

ISLAMABAD: Life returned to normalcy as nationwide protests being held after the acquittal of Aasia Bibi ended following an agreement between Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) and the government.

Roads blocked in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar were cleared overnight as traffic resumed.

In Karachi, sit-ins taking place in multiple locations across the city including Star Gate, Al-Asif Square, Safari Park and University Road concluded. Sit-ins in Lahore where the largest TLP protest took place also concluded following the announcement of the agreement. Educational institutions which had been closed due to the protests opened in the city and across Punjab.

The sit-in near Numaish Chowrangi was also wrapped up following the agreement and the protesters departed peacefully. Demonstrations that had erupted on Wednesday had left major highways — including the motorway connecting Lahore and Islamabad — blocked and routine life paralysed in major cities, and caused gridlock across swathes of the country.

Several mainstream religious parties had also held separate demonstrations in major cities following the Friday prayers, with thousands of demonstrators converging near government offices in Islamabad.

Mobile services in major cities across Pakistan, apart from Karachi, were also down throughout Friday. The protests had come after Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a forceful rebuke to the TLP in a nationally-televised address in the ruling's wake, saying the government would not tolerate violent protests.