Government lifts ban on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party after weeks of clashes, talks

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has lifted a ban on the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious political party, the interior ministry said on Sunday, after weeks of clashes and talks between the two sides.
TLP began a protest march last month calling for the release of its leader Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, who has been under arrest since April. The group also wants the expulsion of France’s ambassador over the publication of anti-Islam caricatures in a French satirical magazine last year. 
On October 31, the group reached a deal with the government, ending more than a week of clashes with police that left at least six policemen dead and scores injured on both sides. The details of the pact were not shared with the public but it was widely reported that the agreement included a commitment by the government to release TLP leaders and supporters and lift a ban on the party. 
The Punjab government also last week requested the federation to remove TLP from its list of banned organizations.
“In exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 11U of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the Federal Government is pleased to remove the name of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan from the First Schedule of the said Act as a proscribed organization,” a notification issued by the interior ministry said.
As part of the peace deal, the government has already released at least 2,000 arrested workers of the proscribed group, though Saad Rizvi still remains in jail pending a decision by the Lahore High Court. 
On Saturday, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore granted bail to several TLP leaders.
The government banned TLP in April this year after violent protests by the group in which at least six policemen were killed and 800 people were injured, according to government figures. 
After the protests, the government also agreed to have a parliamentary vote on kicking out the French ambassador but backtracked, with Prime Minister Imran Khan saying such an action would isolate Pakistan internationally.