Pakistan bans Islamist TLP party known for anti-blasphemy stance : NPR

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party activists flee police during a demonstration in support of the Palestinians, in Muridke, Pakistan, October 13.

Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images

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Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan banned a radical Islamist party on Thursday, more than a week after violent clashes with police that left at least five people dead.

Ban follows Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party march (TLP), earlier this month, from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital, Islamabad. This escalated into a violent street battle between TLP supporters and police in Lahore and the neighboring town of Murdike, leading to a crackdown on the party, known for violent clashes.

A statement from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said the ban was unanimously approved by the federal cabinet, citing “violent and terrorist activities.” The ban is the latest chapter in a complex relationship between the Pakistani state and the TLP, which in recent years has garnered considerable popular support for its hardline positions, particularly on blasphemy or the denigration of Islam.

Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, people who insult Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. The TLP demands death as punishment, and human rights groups say party supporters sometimes carry out brutal mob lynchings even before those accused of blasphemy are tried. Pakistan has seen a significant increase in blasphemy cases in recent years, alongside the rise of the TLP.

The TLP was officially launched as a political party in 2017 by a fiery cleric, although its ideology took root earlier, after the 2011 assassination of the governor of Pakistan’s populous Punjab province, Salman Taseer, who had spoken out openly against blasphemy laws. The killing sparked a wave of support for the governor’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, one of Taseer’s bodyguards, hailed by some as a hero and defender of Islam. The TLP is not considered a mainstream political party, but it has a broad ideological support base, particularly in the Punjab province.

The decision to ban the party came from the government of Punjab, where the recent protests took place. Before the ban, Punjab police raided the house of TLP leader Saad Rizvi, and the government sealed mosques and seminaries associated with the party. Some party affiliates are now also facing anti-terrorism charges, according to Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari.

“It is not a religious or political party: they hide behind religion to sow disorder and try to do politics over corpses,” Bokhari said in an interview with local media.

The TLP announced the protest as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians following the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and demonstrators were expected to gather in front of the US embassy in Islamabad. Ahead of the protest, the government suspended mobile internet service in the capital and cordoned off main roads with shipping containers to keep protesters out.

Khurram Iqbal, associate professor of security studies at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, says external and internal factors have created an environment conducive to this crackdown, including Pakistan’s recent realignment with the United States.

“We cannot afford for a pressure group to attack the American embassy,” he said.

Azaz Syed, a veteran Pakistani journalist, says the TLP recognized this dynamic as an opportunity.

“They thought they would express concern that Pakistan supports America and America brings peace after compromise with Israel,” Syed said. “They wanted to use it more to get more support.”

But Pakistan’s civilian government and military leadership also took it as an affront, he says, contributing to the repression. “That meant they were actually challenging them.”

The TLP was previously banned in 2021 after the party organized violent protests in response to caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in France. The party called for the expulsion of the French ambassador and thousands of people gathered in the streets to pressure the government to follow through on their demand. The ban was later lifted on the condition that the TLP refrain from violence.

Pakistani leaders have defended the current ban on the TLP as necessary to maintain law and order. In an interview with local media, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif called for a “hard state” approach against the party.

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

Pakistan has also taken a tough approach to other political parties, most recently that of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, starting in 2023. Some leaders of Khan’s party staged protests last week against the TLP crackdown, calling it unconstitutional.