Summary for banning TLP forwarded to Centre, says Punjab minister
LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said on Friday that the provincial government had forwarded the summary for banning the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to the Centre.
“The Punjab cabinet has given its approval for banning the TLP, and this has been forwarded to the Centre. So the legal requirement with regard to the provinces has been fulfilled. The provincial government, after giving its approval, has forwarded the summary to the Centre,” she said at a press conference in Lahore.
Her statement comes a day after the Punjab government decided to ask the Centre to ban the TLP, which had conducted a protest march “in solidarity with Gaza”, pledging to reach Islamabad and protest outside the US embassy.
However, on Monday, the authorities launched a pre-dawn operation in Muridke, where the TLP had set up its protest camp on its way to its planned destination. The move by law enforcement agencies had triggered violent clashes, chaos dozens of arrests, resulting in the protest’s premature end.
There have been reports of authorities going down hard on the TLP since.
At the outset of her press conference on Friday, Bokhari, without naming the TLP, also referred to “a protest called in the name of Gaza”, noting that the demonstration was “illogically” held even after a truce to end the Israeli onslaught in the strip went into effect.
She added that the protest had turned “bloody as always”.
“This is not the first time that this party — or I would rather call it a group — has resorted to such acts. Be it 2017, 2019, 2021 or 2022, there have been repeated attempts to paralyse the lives of people and shut the country down,” Bokhari added, apparently referring to the TLP’s previous protests that had turned violent.
“We saw a continuity of those instances this time as well,” the minister added. “The only difference this time was that the state and government together decided that this could not continue anymore. Pakistan cannot afford this anymore.”
The minister emphasised that everybody needed to think about how attempts were made to create chaos in the name of religion.
She further asserted that when the protesters had taken to the streets recently, multiple attempts were made to “engage them”, rejecting the accusations that the relevant authorities had not tried to resolve the issue through dialogue.
“They were engaged repeatedly, and requests were made to them. They were told that people are celebrating in Gaza,” she said, accusing the protesters of setting vehicles on fire and inflicting violence on policemen. “Were they (police personnel and vehicles) a hurdle in the way of resolving the issue of Gaza?” Bokhari raised the question.
Referring to a protest call for after Friday prayers, she thanked the trader community, transporters and the public for “rejecting the call”.
Earlier this week, a statement by TLP Balochistan president Wazir Ahmad Rizvi had called on protesters to converge on Lahore’s Data Darbar on Friday. Meanwhile, intelligence reports suggested that TLP activists may engage in violent clashes and widespread chaos after Friday prayer.
Separately, a group named Tanzeemat-i-Ahle Sunnat — which is not linked to the TLP — had also given a protest call for Friday, demanding a judicial inquiry into the Muridke operation. Staff Report
