Religion, Politics & Economic woes on a hungry stomach are a heady mix in a nation where hope has died and gone to hell. Late last month in January we saw the resurgence of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan again, and what it may mean for the future of the State perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown…
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) a Religious Political Party is derived from Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah which is a cry of Appeal to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
TLP’s primary interest is enforcing their interpretation of Sharia Law, punishing Blasphemy individually and internationally and eliminating all forms of Westernization in Pakistan.
TLP have the street power to block roads en masse and they mysteriously appear in a timing which is synchronized to when there is political chaos and public hostility towards the political meddling of the Pakistan Army which is the de facto Leader and Government of Pakistan behind a curtain of pantomime civilian rule.
When TLP heard Aasia Bibi was going to be released they were in a frenzy and she had to be smuggled out of the country shrouded with great secrecy.
When TLP protested blasphemous cartoons in France, they demanded that the expulsion of the French Ambassador be discussed in Parliament. The protest turned violent resulting in the murder of 6 members of the police force and the injuries of 800 civilians according to numbers provided by the government. Over two thousand TLP members were later released following a secret pact with the government that has not been made public.
The central argument of TLP is “If you insult my Father and I do not respond, I am no son of his”. Another leader has also claimed that the word Peace is only mentioned a few times in the Quran, whereas the word Jihad is mentioned repeatedly.
In fact the word Peace is found in 85 verses whereas the word Jihad is found in 60 verses of the Holy Quran. In a video TLP Leader Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi brazenly claimed Peace was only mentioned 3 times and Jihad was mentioned 550 times. For an illiterate population it is difficult to search a Quran index so lies get magnified and repeated and reinforced.
The leader of Tehreek e Labbaik Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, the son of Khadim Rizvi is both incredibly charismatic and dangerous and is saying some logical things amongst his otherwise frenzied address to the public.
TLP are gaining momentum and crowds and we should worry because they stand for Mumtaz Qadri whereas objectively fewer, but saner voices stand for Salmaan Taseer.
The general working class public seems to feel that the present lot of politicians cannot deliver and TLP is filling a huge ideological and leadership vacuum so fasten your seatbelts…
The hashtag “Council of Satan” in Urdu was trending on Twitter all day on January the 30th last month and had over 50 thousand Tweets while it was at its peak on January the 30th last month.
In October last year over 2000 TLP members were released from prison following their arrest after violent clashes in protests demanding parliamentary debate on the removal of the French Ambassador after the publishing of blasphemous cartoons in France.
TLP was banned by the government in April last year following the violent clashes of the France protest which resulted in the death of six police officers and injury of 800 civilians according to government figures. The ban was lifted later in the year after a secret pact which has not been made public.
The government had included at least 500 members of TLP in the fourth schedule, a listing of suspected militants under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997. Following a secret pact between the government and the TLP it was claimed that all members would be removed from the list.
Pakistan in Perspective 
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