ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Monday the demands of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party, currently holding demonstrations, would be discussed at a federal cabinet meeting on Wednesday, adding that the government had reached an “understanding” with the group as negotiations continued to convince them to call off protests.
Thousands of supporters of the radical party who said they would march on Islamabad are currently camped in Muridke, a city some 55 kilometers from Lahore, and have agreed to stay there till Tuesday. The protesters departed the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore on Saturday, clashing for a second straight day with police. On Friday, two policemen were killed in violent clashes between security forces and protesters.
The protests are aimed at pressuring the government to release TLP chief Saad Rizvi, who was arrested in April this year amid similar demonstrations seeking the expulsion from Pakistan of the French ambassador over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) published in France last year.
On Sunday, the government said it had released 350 TLP supporters after negotiations with the group.
“We stand by our commitment … and [will] take the matter [of TLP demands] to the cabinet on Wednesday,” the interior minister, who is heading the government’s negotiation team, said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad.
Ahmed said Prime Minister Imran Khan would be back from a trip to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and the minister would discuss the matter with him before Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
Besides the release of Rizvi and other party supporters and the expulsion of the French ambassador from Pakistan, the TLP demands that a ban on its party imposed earlier this year be lifted and its supporters be removed from the ‘fourth schedule,’ a listing of suspected militants under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997.
Regarding the TLP demand for the French ambassador’s expulsion, the minister said the issue would be taken up by parliament.
“We have reached an understanding with them [TLP]. I want to wrap this up,” the minister said, without saying what the understanding was. “There are some legal lacunae [that need to be filled to meet TLP demands]. Saad Rizvi understands it, while some others are pressing us to do it just now.”
“The decisions can’t be made just now, there is a legal process,” he said. “So, we will follow the process, and take this to the cabinet on Wednesday.”
The minister said that he had held two meetings with Rizvi in Lahore and found him “more cooperative” than other TLP leaders.
Meanwhile, the TLP said it would proceed with its march to Islamabad if talks did not yield results.
“If negotiations fail to make a breakthrough, our long march will proceed to Islamabad on Wednesday,” said Mufti Muhammad Wazir Ali, who is heading the TLP’s negotiation committee.
