ISLAMABAD: In an apparent shift from the official narrative, the Minister for Interior claimed the chief of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, during his talks with the government, had insisted on the closure of the French mission in Pakistan.
The government and the radical party reached over the weekend an undisclosed agreement to end the 10-day long violent protest calling for the closure of the French embassy and the release of Saad Hussain Rizvi, the group’s leader.
While the protest, third of its type in less than a year, revolved around the demands of the expulsion of the ambassador of France and the closure of its mission over the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) in that country, Mufti Muneeb ur-Rehman who represented the group during the talks claimed the protestors never put forward those demands.
“Lies were spoken on television […] that the group had demanded the expulsion of the French ambassador, the closure of the embassy and to break ties with the European Union,” the cleric said during a press conference in Karachi on Monday.
“This was a blatant lie.”
But Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed Thursday said Rizvi was insistent on [the closure of the] French embassy.
Contrary to the claims of one “major religious figure from Karachi”, the TLP boss was “convinced” this issue be debated in the Parliament.
Ahmed, along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, was part of an initial government team that was formed to initiate a dialogue with the party.
“I have made signatures on this [initial agreement] and I am steadfast on this. As for the rest of the problems, two ministers [Ali Muhammad Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi] have been appointed and they will answer your questions,” he said.
Ahmed said that he had received instructions from Prime Minister Imran Khan during the ceremony and “he said the instruction is this that [it is better] if one minister speaks [on the TLP issue]”.
Thousands of supporters of the outlawed party marched from Lahore on October 22 toward Islamabad.
The march saw supporters clash with police at several points along the way. At least eight police officers and four demonstrators were killed.
The violence erupted a day after the government of Prime Minister Khan said it would not accept the group demand to close the French Embassy and expel its envoy.
It wasn’t immediately clear Sunday when the party would end its rally. Thousands of supporters have since halted their march in Wazirabad, about 185 kilometres from the capital.
Paramilitary rangers have also been deployed for two months to stop the protesters from continuing toward the capital.
Sajid Saifi, a TLP spokesman, said supporters were ready to “pack up” but were awaiting instructions from the party’s leadership. He said he hoped Rizvi — who was arrested in April for inciting supporters to stage an anti-France protest — and all the supporters arrested in recent days would be released soon.
The party started demanding the expulsion of the French envoy in October 2020 after French President Emmanuel Macron tried to defend the caricatures as freedom of expression.
Macron’s comments came after a young man beheaded a French school teacher who had shown the caricatures in class. The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the deadly 2015 attack against the publication for the original caricatures.
Rizvi’s party gained prominence in the 2018 general elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the blasphemy laws.
