<\/p>\n
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has spoken at length about his time as premier during the Faizabad protests of 2017 and how he navigated the government through what he said was the \u201cdarkest chapter\u201d in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Daily life in Islamabad was disrupted for 20 days (from Oct 2 to Nov 27, 2017) when protesters belonging to religiopolitical parties \u2014 including the TLP, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA), the Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, and the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek \u2014 occupied the Faizabad Interchange which connects Rawalpindi and Islamabad through the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road, both of which are the busiest roads in the twin cities.<\/p>\n
The agitators claimed that during the passage of the Elections Act 2017, the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath was deliberately modified as part of a larger conspiracy. The amendment to the oath was deemed a \u2018clerical error\u2019<\/a> by the government and was subsequently rectified<\/a> through an act of Parliament.<\/p>\n The government had attempted to negotiate in vain with the protesters to end the sit-in several times. Finally, it launched an operation<\/a> to disperse the protesters, in which at least six people were killed and scores others injured. After the botched operation, the government decided to call in the army for help.<\/p>\n Negotiations were undertaken with protesters once again, and the government accepted a number<\/a> of their demands in return for ending the protest. The agreement document bears the signatures of then interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi, and Gen Faiz Hameed, who was a major general at the time, among others.<\/p>\n