Religious hardliners camped out at Faizabad interchange on November 8 and blocked major highways to Islamabad demanding for the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid over his alleged role in the amendment of the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath (finality of Prophet Mohammad, PBUH) in the Elections Act 2017.
The amendment triggered controversy when it was revealed that an oath regarding the "finality of Prophethood had been modified to a ‘declaration’ somewhere during the process of its passage".
The protesters believe that a sworn oath affirming a politician’s belief in Khatm-i-Nabuwwat was deliberately modified as part of a larger conspiracy during the passage of the Elections Act.
The government had claimed that the modification was the result of a "clerical error".
The amendment in the oath which caused the controversy was then reversed by parliament after it was identified.
However, protesters belonging to various religious parties started protests demanding action against those responsible for the amendment.
The Islamabad High Court, the Supreme Court and the heads of various religious parties had repeatedly called for the protesters to disband, calling the protest unlawful.
The interior minister was warned of contempt of court by the Islamabad High Court for not evicting the protesters.
The government initiated several rounds of negotiations with the protesters, but failed each time.
Police launched a cracked down to disperse the protesters but had to suspend the operation after protests started across the country.
Hundreds of people including the law-enforcment personnel were injured.
