© Arif Ali / APTLP head Khadim Hussain Rizvi speaks to supporters during a protest following the Supreme Court's decision to acquit Asia Bibi of blasphemy, in Lahore on November 2.
Pakistani authorities have launched a crackdown against supporters of a detained radical Islamic cleric whose party had held violent rallies against the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case.
Police said on November 24 that they
detained more than 300 supporters of Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP) in Punjab Province in an effort to "maintain public order" following the detention of the party's leader, Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the action was
prompted by TLP's refusals to withdraw its call for protests.
"Police has been deployed in all major cities of [Punjab Province] to deal with any untoward incident.
There is a complete ban on all type of political gatherings in the province," Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz ul-Hassan Chohan said.
Rizvi led three days of violent rallies across Pakistan earlier this month after the Supreme Court on October 31 acquitted Asia Bibi, who had spent eight years on death row on a blasphemy conviction.
The protests mostly ended after the authorities said Bibi would not leave the country until a petition against her acquittal was reviewed.
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