Pakistani Islamists pressed ahead with their rally near Islamabad in even larger numbers on Sunday, a day after clashes with police left six dead and dozens wounded.
The protesters torched a car, three motorcycles and a guard post erected near the rally site at a main crossing on the edge of the city but no casualties were reported.
Pakistani riot police and members of the paramilitary force deployed nearby — apparently in preparation for another crackdown after security forces on Saturday failed to disperse supporters of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party.
The demonstrators have camped out at the Faizabad intersection for the past three weeks, demanding the resignation of the country’s law minister over an omitted reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill. The minister, Zahid Hamid, apologized for the omission — a phrase saying that Muhammad is the last prophet in Islam — and said it was a clerical error that was later corrected.
But the Islamists continued the rally, adamant that Hamid resign.
About 3,000 demonstrators were seen gathered at the site on Sunday.
The security forces failed to disperse the protesters when riot police moved in with tear gas and batons on Saturday. Hospital officials said nearly 200 people were hurt, most of them police. They confirmed six people were shot and killed around the Faizabad crossing in clashes with police.
Pakistan’s commission that regulates electronic media continued to keep broadcasts off the air for a second day, allegedly because the media had violated the government policy banning live coverage of security operations. Key social media sites also remained blocked.
Supporters of the Islamist party blocked roads and staged sit-ins for a second day Sunday in cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Multan and others, in a show of solidarity with the Islamabad demonstrators.
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