Hundreds stage sit-in supporting radical Pakistani cleric

LAHORE, Pakistan – About a thousand supporters of a radical Pakistani cleric have staged a sit-in in Lahore after a court declared him a fugitive over violent rallies in Islamabad last year, in which five people were killed.

Wednesday’s sit-in was organized by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a controversial cleric who led rallies in Islamabad in November, forcing the then law minister to quit over an omitted reference to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill.

That protest disrupted life in Islamabad for three weeks and ended with an accord with the government following clashes with police.

Authorities then assured Rizvi that action would be taken against those responsible for mistakes in the bill.

Now, an Islamabad court now wants Rizvi to be tried for provoking the violence.