“The cabinet has decided to treat the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) as a militant organisation and it will be crushed as other such groups have been eliminated,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said at a post-cabinet meeting press conference on Wednesday.
Pakistani state has defeated major terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda, he said, adding that the TLP did not have the status and the quantum of arms the other organisations had.
“Yesterday, the prime minister chaired a meeting which was attended by the military leadership and representatives of intelligence agencies and relevant authorities. It was decided that the TLP would no more be dealt as a political party but as a militant organisation and it would not be tolerated anymore,” he said.
The minister said the government had evidence that the TLP was being funded by some groups in India which also maligned Pakistan through social media. “Therefore, the cabinet also decided to launch a crackdown through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority against those spreading “fake news”, adding that some journalists were also using social media for propaganda.
Fawad said the TLP would not be allowed to challenge the writ of the state and it would now be treated as a “militant” group and not a religious party.
The TLP, he said, was established in 2015 and since then, its modus operandi had been to come out on the roads and block them. “But there is a limit to the state’s patience.”
He said the people had a right to their “ideas” but could not be allowed to take up arms if their ideas were not heard.
“In today’s cabinet meeting, it was decided that such activities will not be tolerated,” he said, adding that “no one should make the mistake of thinking that the state is weak. Those who made this mistake later realised they were wrong”.
The minister said last time, six policemen were martyred and more than 700 injured in clashes with TLP workers. Now, at least three policemen have been martyred in two days and more than 49 are injured.
“How long will we show restraint?” the minister asked.
He said that on Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had chaired a meeting which was also attended by intelligence officials.
“A clear policy decision has been taken. The banned TLP will be treated as a militant party. We will not treat them as a political party […] The rest of the country’s institutions should also play their role.”
However, responding to a question the minister said the government could not declare any political party a terrorist organisation and for that it (the government) had to adopt a procedure and file a petition in the Supreme Court. “We have finalised the petition and it will be filed soon.”
The minister also questioned the registration of the TLP as a political party by the Election Commission of Pakistan on an application filed by a person who, he said, “lived abroad”.
