Civil War in Pakistan? Violent protests cut through the heart of Pakistan
Total Views |
Islamabad, Apr 15: The far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party has held days of violent countrywide protests in Pakistan, against the arrest of radical Islamist party leader. The violent protests continued in Pakistan on Wednesday for the second day as demonstrators blocked roads in several major Pakistani cities, including the country's largest city of Karachi.
On Wednesday, Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had announced that the govt has decided to ban the radical Islamist Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), whose supporters and workers have been carrying out violent protests across the country for three days after the arrest of their chief. Visuals were making rounds on the internet where scores of protestors were seen swarming the streets across all major cities, including Lahore and Rawalpindi.
According to Rashid, protesters had abducted policemen in several areas during the demonstrations, but that all law enforcement personnel had now been recovered. The TLP, a religious group founded by firebrand Muslim leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi, has made the issue of perceived “blasphemy” its rallying cry, and has been agitating since November for the expulsion of the French ambassador and a ban on all French goods over remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron last year.
It called off a big sit-in protest that had blocked a main highway into the capital Islamabad in Nov 2020, after reaching an agreement with the govt on consideration of its demands. In Feb, it threatened further demonstrations if the govt did not comply with its demands, but govt negotiators were able to secure an extension in the deadline for action. Whereas, on Monday, police arrested TLP chief Saad Rizvi, before the new Apr 20 deadline, which resulted into a mass outburst in the Islamic country. This was immediately followed by Pakistan Govt calling for a ban on the party.