WASHINGTON: Donald Trump officially clinched the Republican nomination for US presidential race on day two of the Republican National Convention, and also brought a Muslim supporter on stage to dispel the impression that he was anti-Muslim.

Sajid Tarar, a Pakistani American, however, was greeted with boos and chants of “no Islam”, as he prayed for “unity and the end of terrorism”. Some Republican delegates, however, defended Mr Tarar and condemned those who disrupted his speech.

With Mr Tarar’s closing prayers, the Republicans completed Tuesday’s proceedings, which were more about condemning their Democratic rival Hillary Clinton than promoting Mr Trump.

The New York billionaire, considered a new, divisive force in American politics, will accept the nomination on Thursday and go on the campaign trail as an official nominee of the party.

But it’s not clear if the official nomination will end the controversies Mr Trump has created by entering the nomination race as an outsider. Even the convention, which usually unites all warring factions of a party before the nomination, failed to do so for Mr Trump. Several Republican leaders — such as George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Sen John McCain and Ohio Gov John Kasich — have so far stayed away from the convention.

The House Speaker, Paul Ryan, who announced Mr Trump’s nomination on Tuesday evening, appealed to party workers to unite behind him and stop Mrs Clinton from re-entering the White House where she first lived as the first lady.

Throughout the second day of the convention, speakers focused almost exclusively on attacking Mrs Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie held a mock trial for Mrs Clinton as the crowd chanted: “Lock her up.”

Mr Christie and others blamed Mrs Clinton, who was President Obama’s first secretary of state, for alleged foreign policy failures in Libya, Syria and Iraq.

Mr Trump’s children played a prominent role on Tuesday, joining other speakers in attacking Mrs Clinton. They also stood with the New York delegation on the stage as their father was declared winner.

A band played the song “New York, New York”, as Republican leaders congratulated Mr Trump on winning the nomination.

Mr Trump addressed the audience via a live-stream and said the nomination was an honour. “But we have to go all the way… This is going to be a leadership that puts American people first,” he said.

On Monday, anti-Trump delegates failed in their final push to block his nomination. A vote that would have allowed delegates to back a candidate of their choice was quashed.

This forced even those who did not agree with Mr Trump to vote for him.

Delegates from various states and cities — including Alaska and Washington, DC — openly criticised the decision but said they were going to support Mr Trump not because they liked him but because of their strong dislike for Mrs Clinton.

As The New York Times pointed out, “The only themes truly capable of rallying the Republican Party, even briefly, were ominous denunciations of Hillary Clinton.”

The votes “demonstrated that Mr Trump has seized his party’s nomination — but not yet won the battle for its heart and its ideas,” The Washington Post commented.

The Post also pointed out that Tuesday’s speakers largely avoided the policy proposals that won the nomination for Mr Trump: building a wall on the US-Mexico border, barring Muslims from entering the country, abandoning trade deals and deporting undocumented immigrants en masse.

The NYT pointed out that the “evening showcased the Republican Party’s crippling divisions from the start”.

In the roll call vote, 721 delegates cast their votes for candidates other than Mr Trump — the most significant expression of party dissent since 1976.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, who has both endorsed and criticised Mr Trump, drew scattered boos from the crowd in multiple appearances on stage.

Speaker Ryan, who was reluctant to endorse Mr Trump, said he was doing so because “democracy is a series of choices”.

The Post noted that some speakers “avoided mentions of Mr Trump himself”.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2016