Tensions High In Islamabad Ahead Of March By Hard-Line Religious Party
By Radio Mashaal October 22, 2021
Pakistani police have blocked major arteries leading to the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and deployed heavy contingents of officers as the authorities brace for a march organized by the banned Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party.
Thousands of TLP supporters are set to march from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital on October 22 demanding the release of their jailed leaders and the expulsion of France's ambassador over cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad in a French magazine last year.
The government in April banned the TLP after the group waged violent protest rallies and an anti-France campaign in November 2020. The wave of protests came after French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of a satirical magazine to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad -- an act deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.
Pakistani police detained thousands of protesters during clashes, including TLP chief Saad Rizvi.
A TLP leader, Raja Danish Bakhtiar, told RFE/RL that the group decided to hold the march to Islamabad after the government failed to respond to its demands despite two weeks of peaceful protests in Lahore.
The TLP wants the government to introduce a bill in parliament to expel the French ambassador to Pakistan and the authorities to release "all our arrested leaders and withdraw police cases against them," he said.
The activists are expected to reach Islamabad in the late afternoon, while those already in Rawalpindi and districts near Islamabad have started gathering before joining the march.
Ahead of the march, dozens of TLP activists were reportedly arrested in Lahore. Reports also suggested that the protesters vandalized the city's train station and destroyed some CCTV cameras there.
The opposition Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) is also holding protest rallies across Punjab Province, of which Lahore is the capital, against soaring inflation.
Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad on October 21 urged the protesters to remain peaceful and warned that the government will act decisively if any group or individual tried to violate the laws.
On October 1, the Lahore High Court ruled Rizvi's arrest illegal and ordered his release -- a decision the government has challenged before the Supreme Court.
Source: https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/islamabad-tehrik-e- labaik-pakistan/31524511.html
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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