How an oath spelt bloodbath and mayhem in Pakistan's capital

At the eye of the storm is Pakistan`s law minister Zahid Hamid who has been accused of a hastily-abandoned amendment to the oath that election candidates must swear. It is regarding finality of Prophethood.

A sit-in by hardline religious protesters in Islamabad since November 6 flared up exponentially on Saturday when security officials fired rubber bullets and used tear gas to disperse the group. One person was killed and over 130 are reportedly injured as Pakistan's capital saw one of its worst incidents of unrest in recent years.

Numbering about 2000, the protesters blocked the main road into Islamabad causing traffic snarls and public inconvenience for weeks.

What was initially regarded as an insignificant protest by an insignificant hardline Islamist group Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) has now become a national crisis of sorts. 

But what really is the group protesting about? 

At the eye of the storm is Pakistan`s law minister Zahid Hamid who has been accused of a hastily-abandoned amendment to the oath that election candidates must swear. A clause in the oath has been changed, it is alleged by protesters, which is regarding belief in the finality of Prophethood. Demonstrators have linked it to blasphemy - a highly contentious issue in Muslim Pakistan - and claim the oath was softened to enable the participation of Ahmadis, a long-persecuted Islamic minority sect.

It is a charge that Hamid has denied. "God forbid, we can’t even think of doing such a thing.”

It is a denial protesters have charged at. They say they won't settle for anything less than Hamid's resignation.

Trees have been cut to block roads and tyres have been burnt in what appears a scene straight out of a war movie. While several rounds of negotiations have failed, analysts and critics have nonetheless accused the government of bungling its response to the protest and allowing a minor issue to grow into a headline-grabbing and potentially dangerous situation.

It set an alarming precedent, that "anytime anyone is upset with the government, the capital may be choked and the government will bend its knees," warned Zeeshan Salahuddin of the Center for Research and Security Studies, a think tank in Islamabad.

Now, protests are not just on the outskirts of Islamabad but springing up in several other cities as well.

(With AFP inputs)