Pakistan calls on army to restore order as blasphemy protests spread

[muriel_volestrangler]

The Pakistani government has called on the army to restore order in Islamabad and disperse anti-blasphemy protesters who have been demonstrating in the capital for the past fortnight.

The protests, which spread on Saturday to several other cities in Pakistan, have left about 200 injured, including dozens of police officers.
...
Seemingly emboldened by the failure of the government to clear the protests, which have nearly paralysed the capital, Khadim Hussain Rizvi – the firebrand cleric who leads the Tehreek-e Labbaik Pakistan party – has called for protesters to bring the whole country to a halt.
...
The rallies were triggered by a change in the wording of an electoral oath for lawmakers, which protesters claim was done to appease religious minorities they consider heretics. Despite a swift reversal, protesters still demand that Pakistan’s law minister resign.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/25/pakistan-calls-on-army-to-restore-order-as-blasphemy-protests-spread

The protesting Islamists, from the hardline Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Party, want the law minister to be sacked for omitting a reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a new version of the electoral oath.

The minister has since apologised saying it was a clerical error.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42124446

Details: https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/what-makes-pakistans-election-bill-2017-controversial/

Calling these people snowflakes is an insult to the relative hardiness of snow.

[Ilsa]

1. This is a nation formed precisely for religious reasons,

yet they still fight internally over religion. They were better off having to learn to get along with their neighbors in greater India.

Someone please explain to the Roy Moore supporters that, not only do we not want atheists and agnostics and muslims persecuted in his "Christian" America, we don't want Southern Baptists fighting Catholics, Episcopalians, Assembkies of God, etc.

[Igel]

2. The CP USSR

was formed precisely for ideological reasons.

Yet they still fought internally over ideology.

It's one thing to oppose an enemy. That kind of solidarity is cheap. Negative solidarity.

It's another thing to be united in having common goals. Esp. when a group necessarily has more than one goal, and each subgroup is convinced it has the one true religion ... uh, ideology. Then if you want to get ahead, you look to the ruling political views because you'll be judged according to whether or not your views are politically correct. They may change the following week, in which case you change your views. It produces a certain unprincipledness on the part of Partiers.

The group in charge is always in favor of group solidarity and cooperation. But invariably, the call goes forth, "Okay, here's what we're going to do--everybody get behind me!" That's not democracy, that's fighting for supreme power. It's what ideologues do. It's what wannabe religious potentates do. Because inevitably, the unfaithful, the heretics, must be purged from the party or at the very least condemned.

In the case of religion, however, since their salvation isn't secular but eternal, it makes for a rather stiffer spine on the part of adherents.

[Lordquinton]

3. "The minister has since apologised saying it was a clerical error."

Why did this line make me laugh?