Small group succeeded in forcing government to accept its demands

After law minister Zahid Hamid's resignation, the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah party, which was behind the sit-in in Islamabad and protests in other cities and towns across country, said they were dispersing peacefully under an agreement with the government. The development underscored how a small Islamist party was able to pressure the government and force it to accept its demands through a protracted standoff that started earlier in November.
Clashes erupted on Saturday when riot police tried to disperse the Islamabad sit-in and descended on the protesters with tear gas and batons, leaving six dead and dozens injured. The violent crackdown also triggered solidarity protests by Islamists in other Pakistani cities and towns. This led to what could have been a major political crisis that could have paralyzed many urban areas.
Hamid, the law minister, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi late on Sunday. He resigned after security forces held back from another attempt to disperse the protesters, three security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media. Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal told Justice Shaukat Sadiqui of the Islamabad High Court on Monday that the government signed an agreement with the rally organizers to avoid a "civil-war like situation."
Islamabad-based analyst Imtiaz Gul described the outcome of the standoff as a "retreat" by the state. He said Saturday's crackdown "was a miserably planned and poorly executed." "This operation was launched by thousands of security forces against Islamists and it ended up with the state's retreat," Gul told The Associated Press. At the Faizabad intersection, jubilant Islamists kissed the hand of their leader and party chief, firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, handed out sweets. The government agreed not to seek any compensation from the organizers for the damage caused to government and public property. "Politically, this is a major embarrassment for the PML-N," analyst Hasan Askari told AFP, adding that it would undermine their credibility and predicting more defections.
He also warned it had strengthened the position of hardline groups like TLYRA. TLYRA comes from the Barelvi sect of Islam that has strong ties to Sufism, a mystical branch of the religion seen as moderate. However, the execution in 2016 of Barelvi follower Mumtaz Qadri appears to have galvanised Rizvi and his followers. Askari warned that the decision by TLY and other Islamist parties to contest the upcoming elections could further weaken the PML-N.
The party has previously benefited from the right-wing religious vote.Labbaik, one of two new ultra-religious political movements to reach prominence in recent months, has made defending the blasphemy laws a campaign centrepiece with some success. The party won a surprisingly strong 6 percent and 7.6 percent share of votes in two recent by-elections. Islamist parties are unlikely to win a majority in the elections expected next August, but could play a major role.-Agencies.