The Punjab government on Thursday said it will recommend to the federal government that a ban be imposed on the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
The development came as Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz chaired an “extraordinary meeting” on the province’s law and order situation, during which “historic decisions were made to establish the state’s writ and supremacy of the law”, a statement issued by her office said.
Without taking any names, the handout itself referred to decisions taken against an “extremist party”. However, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari confirmed to Dawn.com that the decisions made pertained to the TLP.
One of the decisions taken was that the Punjab government will “recommend the federal government to impose a ban on an extremist party”.
“The extremist party’s leadership will be placed in the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act[1],” the handout said. The Fourth Schedule is a list of proscribed individuals who are suspected of terrorism and/or sectarianism under the 1997 ATA.
“Individuals involved in hate speech, incitement and violation of law will be arrested immediately in Punjab,” the provincial government decided.
It was also decided that cases against “leaders and workers involved in the martyrdoms of police officers and damage to state property” will be tried in anti-terrorism courts (ATCs).
“All properties and assets of the extremist party will be handed over to the Punjab Auqaf Department. There will be a complete ban on the extremist party’s posters, banners and advertisements,” the CM Office statement added.
It further said that “all bank accounts” of the party will be frozen, and that its social media accounts “spreading hatred will be taken down”. The Punjab government also vowed “strict action on the violation of the Loudspeaker Act[2]”.
The meeting also agreed upon a number of steps pertaining to the Afghan community residing in the province[3]. This included bringing “Afghan citizens into the tax net” and preparing a real-time database of “illegal Afghan residents”.
“A whistleblower system will be introduced for illegal immigrants. The name of the informant will be kept completely confidential,” the CM Office statement said.
It added that the Punjab government has also decided to initiate a “combing operation against illegal residents and their businesses”. “Illegal immigrants will be immediately deported according to the federal government’s policy.”
The high-level security meeting also agreed to urgently recover illegal arms, with a “one-month ultimatum” issued by the Home Department for the owners to surrender their illegal weapons.
“Citizens should register their legal arms from a [Police] Khidmat Markaz within a month,” the handout read. The government also ordered that the stocks of arms vendors and dealers be inspected, and the issuing of licences for new ones would be completely banned.
According to the statement, the Punjab government also “recommended the federal government to regularise arms factories and manufacturers”.
The provincial administration also bolstered the punishment for those holding illegal arms to 14 years in jail, with a fine of up to Rs2 million, and made the offence non-bailable.
Today’s development follows a large-scale pre-dawn operation[4] by law enforcement agencies on Monday to dismantle TLP’s protest camp in Muridke[5], which sparked violent clashes, widespread chaos, and multiple arrests[6]. The party had set out for what it described as a “Gaza solidarity” march, pledging to reach Islamabad and protest outside the US embassy.
As per the official figures, as many as 2,716 people[7] have been arrested after the Muridke operation. Out of these, some 251 were taken into custody by Lahore police and 178 by Sheikhpura police. The government has also barred around 2,800 people[8] from travelling abroad, according to Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry.
Even as police intensify their crackdown on the group following the events that transpired in Muridke, the authorities have decided to take a series of measures to “neutralise” the threat the TLP has posed to the law enforcers and non-Muslim communities since its inception.
The decision[9] to put the radical outfit on a leash is being linked to some crucial meetings, where the TLP’s tainted record of violent agitations[10], fatal attacks on the law enforcers, as well as ransacking of Christian[11] and Ahmadiyya[12] places of worship came under discussion.
Chaudhry, the minister of state for interior, has said[13] action against the TLP protesters will be taken in a manner similar to that of those involved in the May 9, 2023 riots, which led to a country-wide crackdown[14] on the PTI.
The federal government had previously imposed a ban[15] on the TLP in April 2021 on the recommendation[16] of the Punjab government under the ATA.
The ban was later revoked[17] in November that year upon the request of the Punjab government, days after a deal was reached[18] with the group to end[19] its violent protest march[20] to Islamabad.
Restrictions were also briefly imposed on the TLP in June 2023, when the party was carrying out a long march[21] from Lahore to Islamabad. Restrictions lifted under an agreement[22] reached on June 17, 2023 included a ban on the party’s coverage on electronic and social media.
Special prosecutors for cases against TLP in Lahore, Sheikhupura
Separately, the Punjab government has appointed special public prosecutors to represent the state in terrorism cases registered against TLP in the districts of Lahore and Sheikhupura.
According to an order issued by the Punjab government’s public prosecution department yesterday, seen by Dawn.com, Advocate Supreme Court Rana Shakeel Ahmed Khan and Advocate High Court Chaudhry Khalid Rasheed have been appointed as special prosecutors for all cases registered against the TLP “within the jurisdiction of Lahore and Sheikhupura districts/region”.
The appointments — notified following a letter by the Lahore deputy inspector general (DIG) legal for Punjab police chief Dr Usman Awan — were made under Section 18 of the ATA, which allows the government to appoint public prosecutors or law officers to Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs), a high court or the Supreme Court.
The special public prosecutors will coordinate with investigation officers, joint investigation teams for “efficient investigation, proper preparation of case files and represent the state before trial courts in all matters including remands, bails and trials etc; and Honorable Lahore High Court, Lahore (Principle Seat) in all matters, including bails, appeals, revisions, petitions for suspension of sentence, writs and other miscellaneous applications”.
Terms and conditions will be issued separately, the order stated.
References
- ^ Anti-Terrorism Act (nacta.gov.pk)
- ^ Loudspeaker Act (nacta.gov.pk)
- ^ residing in the province (www.dawn.com)
- ^ pre-dawn operation (www.dawn.com)
- ^ Muridke (www.dawn.com)
- ^ arrests (www.dawn.com)
- ^ 2,716 people (www.dawn.com)
- ^ 2,800 people (www.dawn.com)
- ^ decision (www.dawn.com)
- ^ agitations (www.dawn.com)
- ^ Christian (www.dawn.com)
- ^ Ahmadiyya (www.dawn.com)
- ^ has said (www.dawn.com)
- ^ crackdown (www.dawn.com)
- ^ imposed a ban (www.dawn.com)
- ^ recommendation (www.dawn.com)
- ^ revoked (www.dawn.com)
- ^ deal was reached (www.dawn.com)
- ^ end (www.dawn.com)
- ^ protest march (www.dawn.com)
- ^ long march (www.dawn.com)
- ^ agreement (www.dawn.com)