Mysterious silence over Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)

While the interior ministry of Pakistan has objected to the registration of Milli Muslim League (MML) for being a political face of banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), it has maintained a mysterious silence about Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) – a party raised from the ashes of the self-confessed killer of the former Punjab governor.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has questioned the registration application of the MML for being an extension of Hafiz Saeed’s JuD – which is facing UN and government’s sanctions for suspected militant activities, but it silently registered the TLP as a political party in July this year without questioning its credentials.

The TLP is in the limelight since last year as it glorifies Mumtaz Qadri, the murder of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. The self-confessed convict was hanged after being condemned to death by a trial court and upholding of the sentence by the higher courts.

Allama Khadim Husain Rizvi heads the TLP as well as the Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLR), a religious pressure group whose political ambitions have given birth to the TLP. Rizvi is known for his strong views against the state for hanging Qadri and suspected blasphemers, famous for his fiery speeches and extreme views on many issues, one of which is religious minorities. Before Qadri’s execution, Khadim Hussain Rizvi had been leading the Ghazi Mumtaz Qadri Rehai Tehreek, which was later translated into the Labaik Movement.

According to TLP secretary-general Waheed Noor the TLR was founded on March 1, 2016 — only a day after the hanging of Qadri. He said that the TLP is the political wing of the TLR and it was registered on July 26 this year by the Election Commission.

The TLP, which claims to represent an otherwise peaceful and moderate Barelvi-Sunni school of thought, calls for enforcement of Sharia [as per their understanding of it] and the execution of all blasphemers – including Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. Noor said that the protection of the ideology of Pakistan and the enforcement of Nizam-e-Mustafa [the Sharia law] are pivotal parts of the party’s manifesto.

According to political analyst Mazhar Abbas, Tehreek-e-Labaik as an offshoot of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a religio-political party, which was initially led by Shah Ahmad Noorani and later split into different groups.

Both the MML and the TLP took part in Lahore’s NA-120 by-election on September 17 — the former was awaiting its registration at that time while the latter had got registered with the ECP.

Sheikh Azhar Hussain Rizvi, candidate for Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TPL), got 7,130 votes.