Ban on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is not being reversed, says interior minister

(Karachi) Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has said that ban on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is not being reversed while 669 TLP workers detained under the Maintenance of Public Order have been set free.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Sheikh Rasheed said that a legal process will be followed in clearing 210 FIRs, including the case against TLP chief Saad Rizvi, which includes Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) beside Section 302 of the PPC.

The minister said the TLP has 30 days to file an appeal against the government’s decision of banning it with the Ministry of Interior, after which a committee will be formed to decide the case.

He said that most of the TLP workers released from jails hailed from South Punjab and Faisalabad.

Sharing details of the deal the government struck with the banned outfit, he said the agreement was reached after hours-long talks on April 20 and it was agreed that a resolution will be tabled in the National Assembly on the expulsion of the French ambassador and the TLP workers arrested under MPO will be set free.

About 7,00 policemen got injured in violent protests by the religious party while 20 vehicles were set afire, the minister said.

Earlier, the government banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan under the Anti-Terrorism Act in wake of the violent protests and deteriorating law and order situation in the country.

On April 12, several highways and busy roads in major cities were blocked by the workers of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan in protest against the arrest of their leader Saad Hussain Rizvi in Lahore.

Protests erupted in major cities across Pakistan after the news of Rizvi’s arrest broke out that led to deadly clashes between the police and TLP activists.

The TLP had demanded of the government to expel the French ambassador and ban the import of goods from that country.

On November 16, the government had reached an agreement with the TLP to involve the parliament to decide the matter in three months. However, the government had expressed its inability to implement the agreement and sought more time. The TLP had agreed to delay its protest by two-and-a-half months to April 20.

Later, the party chief, in a video message, had asked the TLP workers to be ready to launch the long march if the government failed to meet the deadline. It had prompted the government to arrest him.