ISLAMABAD, (DNA) – Negotiations between a government team led by Senator Raja Zafarul Haq and the Faizabad protesters came to an end on Saturday evening. The team of protesters was headed by Pir Afzal Qadri, and the talks were at Senator Haq’s residence.

The participants of the talks included Pir Golra Sharif, Pir Ijaz Sherani, Dr Shafiq Amin, Sheikh Azhar Hussain and renowned businessman Rafiq Pardesi.

Roughly 2,000 protesters are demanding the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid over a hastily-abandoned amendment to the Prophethood Declaration Clause in the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017.

As the earlier deadline to end the sit-in expired, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal postponed a planned operation against them by another 24 hours.

In a bid to persuade the protesters blocking Faizabad Interchange to end their sit-in peacefully, he had appealed religious clerics and leaders to help the government resolve the issue.

Khatm-e-Nabuwat clause back in its original form

All educational institutes and commercial activities remained suspended in the area on suspicion of an expected crackdown on the protesters. “We do not want any bloodshed in the name of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” said the interior minister.