Saad Rizvi appeals to workers, supporters to go home peacefully

LAHORE: Just few hours after the cabinet approved banning the Tehirk Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the detained ameer of the party, Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, sent a hand-written letter to his workers and supporters from captivity, appealing them to call off the sit-ins across the country, clear the roadblocks and go home peacefully. The hand-written letter on a plain paper, attributed to Hafiz Saad Rizvi, was circulated on the social media by the law-enforcement agencies, in which he directed his party workers to cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies and also call off the sit-in protest outside his madrasa and party head office, Masjid Rehmatul Lil Alameen, on Multan Road, Lahore.

The letter was also posted by special assistant to prime minister on political communication, Dr Shahbaz Gill, on his twitter account, while some senior officials of law-enforcing agencies also confirmed the letter as “genuine and written and signed by Saad Rizvi himself”. However, it was not confirmed by any of the TLP office-bearers if the hand-writing and signature shown on the letter was of Hafiz Saad Rizvi. None of the TLP office-bearers was available for comments. The phone numbers of many TLP office-bearers had been switched off for the last three days, ever since he was arrested on the afternoon of Monday last.

The letter in Urdu was titled as “message of Hafiz Saad Rizvi for members of the party Shura”, in which he claimed to have been writing it with complete senses and without any compulsion. In the letter, he asked the Shura members and workers not to take any unlawful steps against the national interests and those of the general people, give up all protests and roadblocks immediately, all workers and supporters should go home peacefully and cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies.