At least three people have been reported killed and more than 100 supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) arrested as the right-wing party’s protest entered the second day after the arrest of its chief Sahibzada Saad Hussain Rizvi a day earlier. The deaths occurred in the Faizpur Interchange area of Lahore. A police constable was also killed by protesters in Lahore, he was deployed at Gowalmandi police station. At least 40 other police officials have been injured in clashes with the protesters. Amid sporadic violent clashes between protestors and law enforcement agencies, a significant number of the country’s major arteries remained blocked on Tuesday. The blockades have paralysed business in almost all major cities.
In a statement, the spokesperson for the party, Tayyab Rizvi, said the protests will not be called off till the “French ambassador is deported”. He added that more party workers are arriving at areas from where other supporters were earlier arrested by law enforcement officials.The federal government has reportedly decided to deal sternly with the elements creating unrest in Islamabad. On November 17, the TLP announced that the government had accepted all its four demands. The religious party had released a copy of the handwritten concurrence, carrying signatures of the Religious Affairs Minister, interior minister and the deputy commissioner Islamabad.According to the accord, the government would take a decision from the parliament regarding the expulsion of the French ambassador within three months, will not appoint its ambassador to France and release all the apprehended activists of the TLP. The TLP’s demands have not yet been met, with Hafiz Saad Rizvi, the new head of the religious party, stating that if the government does not keep its promise, they will move towards Islamabad between the nights of April 20 and 21.
Whether the government will sign an agreement with the TLP or not is yet to be determined. However, the past record of the government shows that it signs agreement with the far-right movement despite the use of abusive language and incitement of violence. Commenting on the agreement in 2018, journalist Salman Masood wrote: “The terms of the agreement with TLP leadership is capitulation. Hardly a victory for progressive forces. TLP continues to gain more ground.”
The publication of blasphemous sketches is a problem not only in Pakistan but of the entire Muslim Ummah. Muslims do not tolerate the insolence of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the desecration of the Holy Quran they always openly speak out against it. The OIC must address the fact that the whole Muslim world is being condemned for the actions of a few (the Charlie Hebdo attackers) who resort to extremism. More important, at the time the country gripped several issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crises TLP leadership should reconsider their decisions and demands for the sake country’s betterment by avoiding creating problems for the general public.