Anti-France protesters paralyse Islamabad in row over Prophet Mohammad cartoons

Security forces vehicles are seen along the blocked Islamabad-Rawalpindi highway during an anti-France demonstration

Credit: AAMIR QURESHI /AFP

A thousand protesters demanding the expulsion of France’s ambassador paralysed parts of Pakistan’s capital on Monday, as the fallout over French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent comments about cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad deepened.

Security forces sealed off a main artery into Islamabad a day after violent skirmishes between police and marchers were reported to have left dozens of people hurt.

The roadblocks to prevent marchers from a far-right religious party reaching the centre of the city caused severe disruption for commuters, closing schools and businesses. Authorities also cut mobile phone services in the city and surrounding areas to prevent rally organisers from coordinating.

The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party has demanded a boycott of French goods and the expulsion of French diplomats in protest at Mr Macron’s insistence last month that France “will not give up our cartoons” after the beheading of a French teacher for showing his class controversial drawings of the Prophet Mohammad.

The statement has caused widespread anger in the Muslim world and Pakistan has lodged a complaint with France over 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 urged Islamic countries to work together to counter what he called growing repression in Europe.

Blasphemy is a particularly contentious issue in ultra-conservative Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Muslim figures can face the death penalty.

The TLP party is known for its violent protests on the issue and was founded to prevent any reform of the country’s harsh blasphemy laws.

The party held massive protests that brought highways to a standstill for three days when Asia Bibi, a farmhand sentenced to death after being wrongly convicted of blasphemy, was acquitted in 2018.