Govt. decides to ban Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Sheikh Rasheed

ISLAMABAD (Monitoring Desk) The federal government agreed to ban Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) under the anti-terrorism rule, according to Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed. During a press conference, the minister announced that the government had agreed to act on the Punjab government’s appeal.

“We are submitting a summary to the federal cabinet in order to enforce a ban Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP),” Rasheed said in Islamabad, as protests erupted across the state. Over the past two days, religious protests have disrupted the lives of the general public in major cities around the country, claiming the lives of three people, including two police officers. In the fighting with the protesters, almost 100 police officers were injured.

Rasheed said the government wanted to table a debate in the National Assembly and reach an agreement, but the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) insisted on marching to the Faizabad Interchange. In one of the gatherings, he said, delinquents captured a police officer’s gun and used it to shoot at others.

The minister defended the government, saying it plans to break through on its earlier agreement with the TLP. Rasheed claimed that all FIRs filed against protesters were lodged in harmony with the rule. “I have never helped this party and have never met Khadim Hussain Rizvi (former TLP chief),” the minister said, adding that the ban was enforced because of the TLP’s “character,” not because of any political pressure.