Documentary exploring rise of TLP before 2018 elections screened

The District 19 Karachi on Thursday evening hosted the screening of a documentary film by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, a Pakistan filmmaker based in the United States.

The event, titled Ode to Lahore, also featured a discussion after the screening of the film, which explored the rise of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in the aftermath of some controversy related to blasphemy laws in the country.

Titled ‘The Accused: Damned or Devoted?’, the documentary film traced the political ascent of TLP founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a religious cleric who came out on the political scene as someone determined to protect the blasphemy laws in the country.

The movie showed how the TLP in a short time became a significant political force in the country ahead of the 2018 general elections. It also dealt with how the laws that carried potential consequence of capital punishment for the accused were often manipulated for political gains.

The documentary showcased chronological depiction of events that transpired before the 2018 elections resulting in popular support for the far-right political party on the issue of blasphemy laws.

Naqvi is an Emmy award winner filmmaker of Pakistan. Besides being a recipient of the Emmy’s Television Academy Honor, he is also a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences.

His recent credits include Netflix Global Top 10 hit series ‘Turning Point 9/11 and the War on Terror’, Asian Media Award winner ‘The Accused: Damned or Devoted?’, and Independent Spirit Award nominee ‘Among the Believers’.

During the discussion on the documentary film, journalist Hunain Ameen asked Naqvi if during the course of two-and-a-half years of the film shooting, his team noticed any further radicalisation of Pakistani society. To this, he said that while he was not a journalist or any analyst reporting day-to-day matters, what he noticed was that religion could be used to bank votes.