Pakistan deploys troops against violent protesters

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Pakistani troops clash with protesters
(Image credit: Aamir Qureshi/Getty Images)

The Pakistani government on Sunday deployed paramilitary forces under military command to respond to protesters who blocked a major highway, set vehicles on fire, and attacked a police checkpoint. At least six protesters were killed in the initial clash and about 200 more people were injured.

The demonstrators have been in the streets for weeks rallying against a proposed parliamentary rule change that would no longer require lawmakers to mention the Prophet Mohammed while taking their oath of office. Protesters have accused the Pakistani law minister, Zahid Hamid, of blasphemy over the proposal and have demanded his resignation.

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Bonnie Kristian
Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.