Pakistan’s cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to ban the extremist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) after it recently staged violent protests in the country. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which discussed the Punjab government’s request to outlaw the religious group under the ATA of 1997, news agency PTI reported. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement that the cabinet “unanimously” approved the ban. As per the PTI report, Pakistan’s interior ministry presented a summary of the Punjab government’s request and briefed the meeting on the “violent and terrorist activities of TLP in the country.” “The meeting was informed that this organisation, established in 2016, has incited violence across the country. Due to the organisation, incidents of violence have occurred in different parts of the country,” the statement added. The PMO noted that the TLP was banned in 2021, but the ban was lifted after six months on the condition that the party would not carry out unrest or violent activities. The current ban was also justified by the group reneging on the guarantees given in 2021. “In the past, security personnel and innocent bystanders have been killed in violent protests and rallies by the TLP. The federal cabinet, after a briefing given to the meeting and the recommendation of the Punjab government, unanimously concluded that the TLP is involved in terrorism and violent acts,” the statement said, as cited by PTI. After the ban, the TLP will be added to the list of proscribed groups maintained by the Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), which already includes militant groups such as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Lashkar-e-Toiba, and extremist organisations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Before the listing, the federal government must refer the matter to the Pakistan Supreme Court within 15 days for approval. Once confirmed by the court, which has the final authority to ban a political party, the TLP will be officially added to the list of proscribed organisations. Earlier, the Pakistan’s Punjab government had decided to ban the TLP in a meeting chaired by chief minister Maryam Nawaz on October 16, five days after the party began a protest march in Lahore. The TLP had launched a “Gaza solidarity” march on October 11, aiming to reach Islamabad and protest outside the US embassy. The march was halted at Muridke, around 60 km from Lahore, and dispersed on October 13. Clashes between police and TLP supporters at Muridke left around 16 people, including policemen, dead and over 1,600 injured. The TLP has a history of violent protests since 2017, when it staged a major protest and laid siege to Islamabad. Pakistan’s anti-cybercrime agency also arrested over 100 social media activists of the TLP for inflammatory posts. “We have arrested 107 social media activists (of TLP) for inflammatory posts besides blocking 75 such accounts,” Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said at a press conference. Punjab police said they have arrested over 6,000 TLP activists following last week’s clashes. The government has sealed 61 seminaries run by the party and handed control of TLP mosques and seminaries to the Auqaf Department.
