ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan on Thursday banned a radical Islamist party behind recent violent protests that left at least one police officer and four civilians dead, the goverment said.
The decision, approved by the federal Cabinet on the recommendation of the Punjab provincial government, came more than a week after thousands of supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party, or TLP, clashed with police on the outskirts of Lahore.
The protesters were attempting to march to the capital, Islamabad, to hold a rally in support of Palestinians. More than 100 police officers and dozens of protesters were injured in the clashes.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said in a statement that the Cabinet had agreed to outlaw the hard-line TLP under the country’s anti-terrorism law, accusing it of involvement in violent and extremist activities.
It's the second time in recent years that the TLP has been banned.
The party was first outlawed in 2020 after violent protests over the publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in France. At that time, TLP demanded the expulsion of the French envoy. The ban was lifted in 2021 after the group reached a deal with former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government, a move that drew criticism by many other parties for allowing the group to resume political activities.
The latest ban followed new unrest last week, when security forces dispersed the group’s “long march” near Lahore. Authorities say police are now searching for TLP leader Saad Rizvi, who went into hiding after the clashes erupted on Oct. 13, when protesters tried to remove shipping containers placed by police to block roads to halt their rally.
Authorities have said that the demonstrators had been determined since Oct. 10 to stage a pro-Palestinian rally outside the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, and police repeatedly came under attack by the demonstrators with batons, rocks and guns.
Punjab government spokesperson Uzma Bukhari told reporters earlier Thursday that they have sent a summary to Sharif's government, suggesting to ban TLP for the recent violence. She said the party's offices have already been shut by the Punjab government.
TLP, known for staging violent rallies, gained prominence in Pakistan’s 2018 election by campaigning on the single issue of defending the country’s blasphemy law, which calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam. In the past, it had mainly staged rallies against the desecration abroad of Islam’s holy book, the Quran.