Pakistan releases over 1,000 supporters of banned religious group as sit-in enters fifth day

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Tuesday released over 1,000 jailed workers of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, said a senior leader of the banned religious group, adding it was scheduled to free 1,300 more activists and drop all criminal charges against them under a peace agreement recently signed by the two sides.
The statement has come as TLP workers continue with their sit-in for fifth consecutive day in Wazirabad, a city located about 190 kilometers from Islamabad, despite the deal with the government to call off their protest.
The group said its protesters would not return home until the government released its chief, Saad Rizvi, who has remained in prison since April for inciting violence against the state in similar protests.
The government has constituted a steering committee, headed by the parliamentary affairs minister, to ensure the implementation of the agreement signed with the group, though its details have not officially been shared with the public.
“The government has released more than 1,000 of our workers and promised to release another 1,300 tonight,” Sajid Saifi, a senior TLP leader, told Arab News on Tuesday.
He said the government had arrested these “peace loving” people in the last two weeks and kept them in different jails of the country. “All cases against them, if there were any, have also been withdrawn,” he continued.
The authorities released at least four senior TLP leaders, including Dr. Mohammad Shafiq Amini and Pir Syed Zaheerul Hassan Shah, shortly after signing the agreement with the group.
The Lahore High Court is taking up a petition challenging Saad Rizvi’s detention tomorrow (Wednesday), and the TLP expects the government would not oppose his release this time.
“We are expecting good news regarding Saad Rizvi’s release tomorrow,” Saifi said, adding the government’s lawyers would also be holding a meeting with the group’s lawyers in Lahore today to discuss legal complications in cases against TLP members.
The group estimates the government has included at least 500 of its members in the fourth schedule under the anti-terrorism act as “proscribed persons” for anti-state activities.
The government imposes a set of restrictions on proscribed individuals under which they cannot travel without prior permission from relevant police stations or visit theaters, cinemas, airports, railway stations and even public or private parks.
“The government has promised to remove all our members included in the fourth schedule and a process for it has already started,” Saifi said, adding the TLP was a registered political party and would be allowed to contest elections in the country.
The government banned the TLP in April after its violent protests in which at least six policemen were killed and several others injured. As part of the peace agreement, the group is now hoping the government would also lift this ban on the party within a week.
“Our workers will stay in Wazirabad until the release of our chief while the government may take some time to fulfill other demands,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Grand Trunk Road, a major highway, still remains closed at the Chenab toll plaza in Gujrat as the authorities have yet to fill out the trenches that were dug up to stop the protesters from moving toward Islamabad.
“We are working on it and the road will hopefully be reopened by the evening,” Amir Gondal, a Senior Patrolling Officer with the National Highways and Motorway Police, told Arab News on Tuesday.