Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday stated that an alliance with an extremist group would mean “international isolation”.
The minister gave the statement on his official Twitter account, as the government is set to implement a deal made with the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which had launched protests in Lahore on October 20, seeking the release of their leader Saad Rizvi, while martyring police officers and injuring many civilians. The demonstrations lasted for more than 10 days, after which the government on Sunday finally signed an accord with the the proscribed outfit.
As per the agreement, amnesty was to be extended to Rizvi, and the TLP workers who are not facing any formal criminal charges were to be released.
Chaudhry in a tweet stated that the religious groups have the capacity to use mobs for violence but their capacity to create any change in politics “has always been limited”.
“At one point Sunni Tehreek was more violent than TLP, but done and dusted. This party will be over sooner,” he stated.
“[An] alliance with such a party means international isolation,” the information minister added.
Meanwhile, the government is all set to implement the secretive deal. As per the reports, more than 800 supporters of the party arrested across Punjab would be released under the deal.
In this regard, PM Imran Khan held a meeting on Monday, with the steering committee to discuss the implementation of the agreement.
The meeting was chaired by Federal Minister Ali Mohammad Khan. The meeting had Punjab’s Minister for Law Raja Basharat, secretaries of the federal interior ministry, additional chief secretary of the Punjab Home Department, other officials, as well as some members of the TLP in attendance.
As per the Punjab Home Department, 860 persons who were not facing any formal charges have been released across Punjab.
It has been decided in the meeting that the appeal filed against the release of Saad Rizvi will also be withdrawn. It is pertinent to note that the government had earlier challenged the order of a Lahore High Court (LHC) bench pertaining to Rizvi’s release.
Saylani Welfare Trust Chairman Maulana Bashir Farooqui who was present during negotiations between the TLP and the government assured that the contents of the agreement “do not go against the national interest”. However it still cannot be made public before the 10th day of the deal.
The news of the agreement between the government and TLP was announced on Sunday in a presser hosted by officials from the PTI’s negotiating team.
FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi and NA Speaker Asad Qaiser were also present on behalf of the government at the presser. Barelvi scholar Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman was also present to support dialogue between the protestors and the government.
Mufti Rehman initiated the presser held in Islamabad, stating that talks with the proscribed TLP had been “successful” and that an “agreement” had been reached, while adding that the details of the agreement will be revealed at a “suitable time”.
It it to note that other signatories of the agreement included the NA speaker, FM Qureshi and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, besides members of the proscribed TLP.
