Pakistani cabinet upholds ban on political party behind violent anti-France protests

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, left, chairs cabinet meeting in Islamabad on July 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy: PID)

• Tehreek-e-Labbaik party abducted policemen and targeted public property in April while seeking expulsion of French ambassador from Pakistan
• Pakistan’s information minister says Saudi Arabia will release 85 more Pakistani prisoners from its jails on Eid Al-Adha

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet on Tuesday upheld a ban on the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party under the country’s anti-terrorism laws for killing policemen, attacking law enforcement personnel and disrupting public life in April by launching nationwide protests.
The government also vowed to get the party’s election symbol canceled from the Election Commission of Pakistan by adopting necessary legal procedures to prevent TLP from participating in any upcoming polls.
The TLP party held unruly protests in April wherein its workers abducted policemen, killed two of them and injured several others.
The group used violent means to force the government to expel the ambassador of France for the publication of blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in French publications.
While the country’s interior ministry later banned the party, it allowed TLP leadership to file a review petition against the decision.
Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Tuesday presented the review committee’s decision on the TLP ban before the cabinet.
“The federal cabinet has decided to uphold the ban on the TLP party,” Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Hussain Chaudhry told the media after the cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
The minister said the decision to ban the party was based on “merit and facts” because it had killed police personnel, tortured members of law enforcement agencies and set public property ablaze during the anti-France protests.
He informed that the country’s law ministry and attorney general would approach the election commission to get the registration and election symbol of the party canceled.
The minister also ruled out the possibility that the party would emerge again under a different name and election symbol.
“The law will take its own course now,” he said.
The federal cabinet also approved three public holidays on Eid Al-Adha from July 20 to July 22.
“The NCOC proposed five public holidays on Eid, but the cabinet approved only three,” Chaudhry said.
He announced that Saudi Arabia was releasing at least 85 Pakistani prisoners on Eid, and a special plane would be dispatched to bring them back.
“This is good news,” he said.
The information minister noted that the kingdom had already released hundreds of Pakistani prisoners involved in petty crimes as part of a goodwill gesture.
He recalled that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced to release Pakistani prisoners during his two-day historic visit to Islamabad in February 2019.