Demonstrations by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party have caused traffic chaos in key Pakistani cities after 53-year-old Christian Asia Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy was struck down on October 31. The protesters blocked thoroughfares in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, the country’s biggest city Karachi, Punjab’s densely-populated capital Lahore and other communities.
Some protesters fled to the key buildings and city sites.
Police have issued warnings for local drivers, who may find themselves stuck in traffic due to protests. Some users say that the TLP also plans to shut down airports.
The TLP leader has also called for the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government over Bibi’s case.
READ MORE:Thousands in Pakistan Call for Execution of Christian Woman for Blasphemy
The woman was convicted in 2010 after she allegedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed in a quarrel with Muslim workers over a bowl of water.
In 2009, Bibi was working in the field near her home village in Sheikhupura, Punjab, when one of the women working with her insisted that Bibi was "unfit to drink from the same water bowl as them" because she was a non-Muslim. She responded by praising Christ and discrediting their religion; her words were met with physical abuse. Later she was thrown in jail.
The responding police officers promptly arrested Bibi and threw her in jail; a year later she was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death.