ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities closed a main road into the capital, Islamabad, for a second day on Monday, as a far-right religious party staged new protests against France.
A demonstration in the neighboring city of Rawalpindi that drew up to 5,000 people on Sunday lasted until Monday, with around 1,000 protesters gathering at the checkpoint that prevented them from entering the capital.
Travelers faced lengthy delays on alternative routes to the city.
Mobile phone services were restored around lunchtime Monday, after being suspended for more than 24 hours to prevent the rally organizers from coordinating with each other.
Pakistan has seen small and scattered protests in recent weeks in response to the French president Emmanuel macronrecent comments on Islam.
The French president spoke out after an extremist beheaded a teacher near Paris after he showed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of expression. All representations of the Prophet are prohibited by Islam.
The president said the teacher “was assassinated because the Islamists want our future.”
Macron’s comments sparked anger across the Muslim world, with tens of thousands in Pakistan, neighboring Iran and other Muslim countries in South Asia flooding the streets and organizing anti-French boycotts.
Pakistan has filed a complaint with France for what it called a “systematic Islamophobic campaign” in the European nation.
Prime Minister Imran khan has accused the French president of attacking the Muslim faith and has urged Islamic countries work together to counter what he called increasing repression in Europe.
Blasphemy is a particularly contentious topic in ultra-conservative Pakistan, where anyone who is seen as having insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty.
Human rights groups have urged the country to reform its blasphemy laws because it is often abused to solve personal revenge.
Sunday’s march was organized by a hardline clergyman Khadim Hussain Rizvi, whose party, Tehreek-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), is known for violent protests on the issue.
In 2017, the country was paralyzed by the manifestations of the TLP after the acquittal of the Christian woman Asia Bibi, accused of disrespecting the prophet Muhammad.
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