Pakistan: Acquittal of Christian woman protested

In a protest against the acquittal of Christian woman in a blasphemy case, thousands of people blocked roads across Pakistan on Thursday, police and local media reported.

The protests cut off scores of cities and towns from capital Islamabad and provincial capitals, suspending the traffic.

Angry mobs of religious activists -- mainly belonging to newly-emerged Sunni group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) -- staged sit in on key roads in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Multan, and other major cities.

The government shut down all the schools, colleges, and universities in respective cities.

The sit-in at the entrance route of Islamabad suspended the traffic between the capital and Rawalpindi, a garrison city in the northeastern Punjab province, which houses the headquarters of the country’s powerful army.

The traffic between Islamabad and Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province also was suspended due to the closure of motorway.

The historic Grand Trunk (GT) road, which connects Lahore, the country’s second largest city and the capital of Punjab province, with several cities and towns, including Peshawar, was also blocked at several portions by the infuriated protesters.

Thousands of policemen, paramilitary troops, and rangers were deployed across the country in case of any violence.

However, no major damage to lives or properties was reported across the country so far.

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted Aasia Bibi who was sentenced to death by a district court in November 2010 for blasphemous remarks against Prophet Muhammad.

Bibi is likely to leave the country as her family fears for safety.

Blasphemy, against Islam and Prophet Muhammad, is a criminal offense that can carry the death penalty in Pakistan. While the state has never executed anyone under the law, mere allegations have stirred mass protests and violence.