PM praised for his stance

♦ Defiance from protest leaders came after Khan rebuked hardliners

♦ Key protest leader called for assassination of the country's top judges

Pakistan's Imran Khan won praise for his stance against religious hardliners yesterday, as demonstrators blocked major roads to protest the Supreme Court's overturning of a blasphemy conviction.

Khan has vowed to confront extremists who called for the assassination of the country's Supreme Court justices, and for mutiny against the army's top brass, after the acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row for blasphemy.

"We will protect people's properties and lives, we will not allow any sabotage," Khan said in a nationally televised address Wednesday.

Blasphemy is a massively inflammatory charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can provoke death at the hands of vigilantes.

Khan's speech drew praise across social media, including from those formerly critical of the prime minister.

Prominent journalist Mosharraf Zaidi hailed a "remarkable speech" and a column in the English daily Dawn said Khan had taken "an unequivocal and strong line against religious bigotry and hatred that we have not seen taken in almost two decades".

"Prime Minister Imran Khan was admirably forthright in condemning those who believe violence is the appropriate response to a judicial verdict with which they disagree," said the English-language The News, which is often a critic of the PM.

Others however highlighted the prime minister's mixed record on addressing the controversy around blasphemy issues in Pakistan.

The demonstrations are being largely led by the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party, which is known for its hardline stance on blasphemy issues.

A leader of TLP yesterday pledged to continue holding sit-ins in cities across the country with supporters blocking major traffic thoroughfares, causing gridlock and school closures in key hubs like Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi.

On Wednesday, a key protest leader called for the assassination of the country's top judges.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said officials had entered talks with the protesters ahead of mass demonstrations scheduled for today, the holiest day of the Islamic week and a time when the size of demonstrations can often swell.