The US feels that the civilian government in Pakistan is “weak” and the Army’s role in ending the recent protests by hardline religious parties in the country has “emboldened” the extremists, a senior Trump administration official has said.
Pakistan last month witnessed countrywide protests by hardline religious groups after a reference to the Prophet Muhammad was left out of a revised version of the electoral oath. The protesters called off the demonstrations after law minister Zahid Hamid resigned, meeting one of their key demands.
A top Pakistani court had criticised the Army’s role to mediate the agreement to end the protests that claimed the lives of six people and injured over 100 others. Observing that the “civil-military tension” in the country is “not helpful”, an official said, “The government, right now, is pretty weak. This was shown by the recent protest.”
