LAHORE: A banned Pakistani religious faction on Thursday announced a “long march” to the country’s federal capital, Islamabad, to protest the incarceration of its top leader along with the government’s refusal to expel a European envoy whose country defended the publication of anti-Islam caricatures in the name of free speech and expression.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), founded in August 2015, has made the sanctity of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) central to its politics.
The group has opposed any changes to the country’s blasphemy laws in the past and sought the expulsion of the French ambassador to Pakistan after the repeated publication of caricatures disparaging Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in his country.
TLP leader, Saad Rizvi, was arrested in Lahore in April for threatening the government with anti-France rallies.
His detention was followed by violent demonstrations by the supporters of his party in different cities that lasted for about a week.
According to official figures, six policemen were killed and over 800 people were injured during these protest rallies.
“TLP activists from all over the country have been directed to launch a long march toward Islamabad on Friday,” Syed Sarwar Husain Shah, an executive member of the party’s top consultative body, announced in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore.
Shah said it would be a peaceful march, though he added that TLP supporters reserved the right to respond if the government tried to obstruct their way.
TLP activists have already been blocking several roads in the city since Thursday, causing inconvenience to commuters.
About 40 to 50 of its members also attacked an Orange Line train station in Lahore and damaged public property.
The provincial authorities have deployed police contingents across the city to deal with the situation.
On the direction of the province’s home department, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has also suspended internet services with immediate effect in sensitive areas of Lahore, including Samnabad, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Sabzazar and Iqbal Town, to keep the situation under control.
The Punjab government spokesperson, Hasaan Khawar, said the government was going to deal with TLP workers within the legal ambit.
“However, if someone tries to take law into his own hands, jeopardise the life and security of people, the writ of the government will be enforced,” he said. “Therefore, it’s always better to resolve such issues through dialogue instead of taking to the streets.”
According to the Punjab Transporters Association, police in Lahore have seized more than 100 containers in a possible attempt to prevent the long march.
The information was also corroborated by police sources who said the step was taken to deal with any unpleasant situation on Friday.
The Lahore High Court recently declared Rizvi’s detention as illegal while approving a petition filed by his uncle against his continued incarceration.
The Punjab government, however, filed an appeal against the court’s verdict, saying the bench had not considered the intent and purpose of putting the TLP leader’s name in a list of proscribed individuals and entities to ensure the maintenance of public order.
The Punjab government also informed it had intelligence reports that TLP activists were planning a major protest rally in November and were waiting for Rizvi’s release.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan threatens to march on Islamabad, seeks expulsion of French envoy
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Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan threatens to march on Islamabad, seeks expulsion of French envoy
- The outlawed religious group wants to secure the release of its top leader who was arrested in April for threatening violent protests
- The provincial administration of Punjab has deployed police contingents across Lahore to control the situation on Friday
Pakistan compensates families of victims in Islamabad mosque suicide attack claimed by Daesh
- Pakistan is paying compensation totalling more than $700,000 to the families of 40 people killed
- Attack was deadliest in capital since 2008 truck bombing that killed 60 people at Marriott Hotel
Pakistan is paying compensation totalling more than $700,000 to the families of 40 people killed in a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad this month, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.
The February 6 attack claimed by the Daesh group on the outskirts of the capital was the deadliest in Islamabad since a 2008 truck bombing that killed 60 people at the Marriott Hotel.
“Relief cheques have been delivered to the heirs of 36 martyrs belonging to Islamabad,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said in a statement, adding each victim’s family received five million rupees (around $17,800).
Cheques will also be delivered to four families of victims living outside Islamabad, the statement said.
Although officials have not released a final death toll, the statement marked the first official acknowledgement that 40 people were killed in the blast.
The suicide attack occurred during Friday prayers, when mosques around the country are packed with worshippers.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority nation, but Shiites make up between 10 and 15 percent of the population and have been targeted in attacks throughout the region in the past.
The last major attack in Islamabad took place in November when a suicide blast outside a court killed 12 people and wounded dozens, the first such incident to hit the capital in nearly three years.
The bombings come as Pakistan’s security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and northern provinces that border Afghanistan.
Last year, militant assaults killed 1,235 people — including 825 security personnel and 400 civilians — with 27 suicide attacks reported nationwide and 2,597 militants killed.
