| T |
he Interior Ministry has banned theTehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan.“The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that the TLP is connected with and concerned in terrorism and orders TLP to be a proscribed organisation,” the notification reads.The decision to ban the party was taken at a special meeting of the federal cabinet.The ban was unanimously approved.
Earlier, the Interior Ministry briefed the cabinet on what it called the TLP’s “violent and terrorist activities.” The ministry also informed the cabinet that the 2021 ban on the TLP was lifted six months later on the assurance that it would refrain from violence. “Security personnel and innocent bystanders have been killed in violent protests and rallies by the TLP,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office reads.
On October 13,a police operationwas launched to remove TLP protesters staginga sit-in in Muridke. Police saidseveral cops were killed and injured by the TLP protesters.
The Rizvi brothers, Sa’ad and Anas, who were leading the protest march, are absconding.The Punjab Police chief has vowed to trace them “soon.” Police have registered a case against the two brothers – key leaders of the TLP and sons of its founder KhadimHussain Rizvi – on charges of inciting violence and criminal intimidation.
In a recent development, the Ministry of Interior has also placed the names of top leaders of the TLP, including the two brothers, on the Provisional National Identification List to prevent them from travelling abroad.
“Whether the matter will be taken to the Supreme Court of Pakistan for revoking the registration of the TLP as a political entity is yet to be decided,”a senior government official said.
Earlier, in 2021, the federal government had announced its decision to ban the TLP over its violent and extremist behavior. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan gave a clean chit to the party.
In 2021, the Interior Ministry notification had stated: “The TLP activists caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of law enforcement agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties, including vehicles. “Besides, it caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, threatened the government and created a sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large.”
This time the ban has been imposed on the recommendation of the Punjab government.
In 2021, the federal government had imposed a similar ban on the TLP over its violent and extremist behaviour. This time the ban has been imposed on the recommendation of the Punjab government.
“Registered parties have the right to participate in politics but violence, roadblocks, destruction of property and attacks on law enforcement personnel are unacceptable,” Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said in a recent speech.She said the government and law enforcement wanted to protect the lives and property of the ordinary people.
The TLP has been accused of inciting violence in the name of religion and weaponising blasphemy laws.TLP leaders claimthat it isa peaceful party and deny the allegations. They say the government is victimising them over its solidarity with the people of Palestine.
The platform was first used raise a voice for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, the police guard who had killed the then Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer. Subsequently, other leaders had joined Rizvi to establish a new organisation. In 2017, it was registered as a political party.
A severe police crackdown is on in various districts of the Punjab to round up TLP activists. So far, a couple of thousand have been detained, according to police officials.
The Punjab government has also announced to transfer the administrative control of 300 mosques and 125 seminaries run by the TLP in the province to the AuqafDepartment.
Some analysts worry that decisive action has not been taken against the TLP by the government. They say government actions so far amount to mere fire-fighting.
“The TLP is a symptom of a menace that threatens our social fabric and the state’s unity.The rise of religious extremism in Pakistan has a context,” political and security analyst ZahidHussainsays. Referring the TLP as a product of the impunity allowed by the state to extremist ideologies, he says, “Till now, there is no indication that the state is willing to eradicate religious and violent extremism. The real issue is not this group; it is the extremist ideology,” he says, citing examples of banned outfits resurfacing under new names.
Support for the TLP and other extremist groups largely came from semi-educated sections of the society and from urban areas.
“If the state is sincere about eradicating religious extremism, it needs to address the socioeconomic issues. Our education system itself promotes an extremist mindset, Husain says, adding, “Banning the TLP without addressing these issues is not going to solve the problem of religious extremism in Pakistan.”
The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at vaqargillanigmail.com