Pakistan bans hard-line Islamist celebration identified for its fierce anti-blasphemy stance

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan banned a hard-line Islamist celebration on Thursday, greater than per week after heated clashes with police that left at the least 5 folks useless.

The ban follows a march by the celebration, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), earlier this month from the japanese metropolis of Lahore to the capital metropolis, Islamabad. It escalated right into a vicious avenue battle between TLP supporters and police in Lahore and the close by metropolis of Murdike, resulting in a crackdown on the celebration, which has come to be identified for these violent confrontations.

A assertion from the workplace of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif mentioned the ban was unanimously authorised by the federal cupboard, citing “violent and terrorist activities.” The ban is the newest chapter in an advanced relationship between the Pakistani state and the TLP, which has amassed appreciable grassroots help lately for its hard-line views, notably on blasphemy or the denigration of Islam.

In accordance with Pakistan’s blasphemy legal guidelines, individuals who insult Islam or Islamic figures can face a potential dying sentence. The TLP calls for dying as a punishment, and human rights teams say the celebration’s supporters typically perform brutal mob lynchings even earlier than folks accused of blasphemy go on trial. Pakistan has seen a important spike in blasphemy instances lately, in keeping with the TLP’s rise.

The TLP was formally launched as a political celebration in 2017 by a fiery cleric, although its ideology took maintain earlier, following the 2011 assassination of the governor of Pakistan’s populous Punjab province, Salman Taseer, who was outspoken in opposition to the blasphemy legal guidelines. The homicide led to a wave of help for the governor’s killer, Mumtaz Qadri, considered one of Taseer’s bodyguards, who was hailed by some as a hero and defender of Islam. The TLP isn’t thought-about a mainstream political celebration, nevertheless it has a big ideological help base, particularly in Punjab province.

The transfer to ban the celebration got here from the federal government in Punjab, the place the latest protests came about. Earlier than the ban, police in Punjab raided the home of the TLP’s chief, Saad Rizvi, and the federal government sealed mosques and seminaries related to the celebration. Among the celebration’s associates at the moment are additionally going through anti-terrorism fees, based on Punjab’s info minister, Azma Bokhari.

“This is not a religious or political party — they hide behind religion to spread disorder and try to do politics over dead bodies,” Bokhari mentioned in an interview with native media.

The TLP introduced the protest as a present of solidarity with Palestinians following the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and protesters had been set to assemble in entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. Forward of the protest, the federal government suspended cellular web service within the capital and cordoned off main roads with transport containers to maintain protesters out.

Khurram Iqbal, an affiliate professor of safety research at Quaid-e-Azam College in Islamabad, says each exterior and inside components created the atmosphere for this crackdown to happen, together with Pakistan’s latest realignment with america.

“We can ill afford any pressure group charging on the American Embassy,” he says.

Azaz Syed, a senior Pakistani journalist, says the TLP acknowledged this dynamic as a chance.

“They thought that they would raise the concern that Pakistan is supporting America, and America is bringing peace after a compromise with Israel,” Syed says. “They wanted to further utilize it for gaining more support.”

However Pakistan’s civilian authorities and army management additionally took this as an affront, he says, contributing to the crackdown. “It meant that they are actually challenging them.”

The TLP was beforehand banned in 2021 after the celebration held violent protests in response to caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad revealed in France. The celebration referred to as for the expulsion of the French ambassador, and hundreds of individuals gathered within the streets to strain the federal government to behave on their demand. The ban was later eliminated with the situation that the TLP should chorus from violence.

Pakistan’s leaders have defended the present ban in opposition to the TLP as crucial to take care of public order. In an interview with native media, Pakistani Protection Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif referred to as for a “hard state” strategy in opposition to the celebration.

“Such religious extremist groups, which resort to violence and cause damage to property, cannot be tolerated in Pakistan,” he mentioned.

Pakistan has additionally taken a hard-line strategy towards different political events, most lately the celebration of imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan, beginning in 2023. Some leaders from Khan’s celebration held protests final week in opposition to the crackdown on TLP, calling it unconstitutional.