ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Sunday that the government was considering the release of Saad Rizvi, the leader of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan religious party, who was arrested earlier this year for threatening to lead anti-government protests.
The party announced this week that it would march to the capital, Islamabad, to pressure the government to release Rizvi and expel the French ambassador over blasphemous caricatures published in France last year.
Thousands of supporters of the radical party on Saturday left the eastern city of Lahore, clashing for a second straight day with police. On Friday, two policemen were killed in a violent standoff between security forces and protesters.
Protesters are now camped in Muridke, a town about 55 kilometers from Lahore, and will stay there while the group’s negotiation team meets with government representatives for talks.
The party held similar protests in April this year in which six policemen were killed.
The interior minister said that of 7,000 party supporters arrested during the April violence, cases were still pending against 173, but would now be quashed as part of an agreement with the party to convince it to abandon the ongoing protest march.
“We will take back the cases against the TLP by Wednesday,” Ahmed told reporters at a press conference. “Also considering the release of Saad Rizvi.”
“A negotiation team of the TLP will come to the Interior Ministry on Monday, and all issues will be addressed,” the minister said, adding that the party had the third largest vote bank in Punjab and the government wanted to avoid confrontation with it.
“There should be no confrontation with religious people. It’s their right to protest, and the government should show flexibility,” the minister said. “I had a one-on-one meeting with Saad Rizvi too, and their people in Muridke will go back on Wednesday.”
When asked about the expulsion of the French ambassador, a main demand of the banned party, Ahmed said: “Currently, France has no ambassador in Pakistan, but we will take this matter to the National Assembly.”
The minister also directed Islamabad and Rawalpindi administrations to reopen roads and remove shipping containers placed at entrances to the city to keep out protesters.
Earlier on Sunday, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri said in a press statement that negotiations between the government and the banned group were moving toward “success.”
The minister added that the government had listened to all of the group’s demands and would “consider them seriously.” He said that all roads in the country closed due to the protests would be reopened by Monday, and that there would be no confrontation between protesters and police.
“In case of peace, police and security agencies will not take any action against the sit-in,” Qadri said. “All the issues will be resolved with mutual discussion.”
