Khurram A Khan

A leading English newspaper recently published an article of a security analyst wherein the author makes a case against Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), equating TLP with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). While TTP is a conglomerate of militant outfits, TLP is a religio-political movement. TLP has often been characterised as a violent sectarian organization of Barelvi (Sunni) extremists, allegedly encouraged by state institutions to counter the growing militancy of Deobandi ideology in the form of TTP and sectarian anti-Shia outfits like Sipah-e-Sahaba. Analysts have failed to present the genesis of TLP in its true context.

Namoos-e-Risalat is an emotive issue. Any attempt at sacrilege against the person of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) brings a vehement response from Muslims of all sects. Mumtaz Qadri, a police guard, assassinated Governor Salman Taseer in 2011 for questioning blasphemy laws and supporting Aasiya Noreen—a Christian bricklayer from a village near Sheikhupura accused of insulting the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Pir Afzal Qadri, a Barelvi cleric from District Gujrat, and Dr. Ashraf Jalali, a religious scholar, co-founded TLYRA in 2015 to campaign for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, who was eventually hanged in 2016. The outpouring of public sympathy witnessed at Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral gave a shot in the arm to TLYRA’s popularity.

Barelvi Muslims, according to estimates, form a majority sect. The tradition of khanqahs and Sufi darbars dates back at least a thousand years in the subcontinent. Barelvi Muslims from the lower and lower-middle classes are loyal disciples of pirs and Sufis, whether living or dead. TLYRA’s support base stems from these classes. The formation of TLYRA was not the handiwork of the establishment, as often alleged. However, its popularity among segments of the populace drew the attention of both political elements and the military establishment.

TLYRA was given recognition by PML-N when it called its leaders to meet federal and Punjab ministers, with the provincial Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Police sitting on their right and left flanks. The meeting was held to defuse the situation arising from protests by TLYRA against the acquittal of Aasiya Noreen by the Supreme Court. Thereafter, the temerity of Pir Afzal Qadri rose to such an extent that he started issuing edicts (fatwas) to kill blasphemers and their protectors. He issued a fatwa that the DCO and DPO of Sialkot were liable to be killed for dithering on the registration of a criminal case against a private school principal accused of blasphemy by his pupils.

PML-N has played the victim card at the hands of TLP, allegedly used by the military establishment to discredit its government on the issue of blasphemy. PML-N cannot claim to be wholly innocent. It used the Namoos-e-Risalat issue to settle political scores. Its then-minister in Punjab—now holding a portfolio in the federal government—incited public sentiments through innuendo, accusing Governor Salman Taseer (with whom PML-N had an acrimonious relationship) of supporting the blasphemer Aasiya Noreen, which culminated in his assassination.

In 2017, the PML-N government was uneasy with Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa. A murmuring and whispering campaign insinuating about Gen. Bajwa’s faith emanated from PML-N circles. Around that time, TLYRA leaders openly started demanding the removal of Qadianis from government positions. The profanity of the act brought TLYRA into the firing line. Pir Afzal Qadri got a literal thrashing. Cases were registered against him under the ATA, and he was placed on the Fourth Schedule, limiting his movements and blocking his bank accounts. PML-N got a taste of its own medicine when the tables were turned and TLP was used to discredit it on the issue of Namoos-e-Risalat.

TLP, sensing support among segments of the population, entered electoral politics. It was registered as a political party in December 2017. The firebrand Khadim Hussain Rizvi, delivering speeches in Punjabi vernacular, caught the imagination of rural people in Punjab. It invited the ire of the people of Islamabad when it squatted for days at the Faizabad Interchange, disrupting normal life in the federal capital. The protesters, drawn from rural Punjab, evoked little sympathy from the urbanite and affluent populace. At the same time, clergy of other sects—who had been receiving official patronage since the days of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq—felt threatened by the rise of a Barelvi political force.

TLP bagged the third-largest vote bank in Punjab and Karachi in two successive elections, in 2018 and 2024. TLP’s call for staging protests outside foreign diplomatic missions is problematic due to the propensity of its supporters to resort to violence. However, on all previous and latest occasions, they were miles away from their intended targets, but still the government went for an overkill. Nevertheless, it was not uncalled for as one SHO, Inspector Shehzad Nawaz, was killed by TLP zealots and more than two hundred anti riot policemen were injured. The ill timed rowdy procession of TLP activists, straining on the leash to reach Islamabad to protest outside the US Embassy, was considered a conspiracy rather than expression of dissent. The government was not ready to allow such a public demonstration that had a potential to turn violent as it happened in previous two regimes.

  In 2021 when PTI government was in place, two policemen and as many workers of the banned TLP were killed and several others injured after fierce clashes erupted between the TLP protesters and law enforcement agencies at Chauburji Chowk Lahore. Chauburji, Lower Mall and surrounding areas turned into battlefields with videos of the clashes showing police firing teargas shells to disperse the protesters who in return pelted the law enforcers with stones. Many TLP workers carrying clubs appeared to be fighting back when the riot police tried to disperse them.

With this propensity of TLP to turn violent compelled the government to adopt tough tactics to tackle them. The Punjab government has pressed the federal government to proscribe the group. Punjab Information Minister has revealed that TLP funders and supporters will face terrorism charges. Some analysts are of the view that PML (N) government is bent upon crushing the political rival that had given it tough time in the previous elections. Others are of the opinion that TLP is an expression of frustration by the lower and lower-middle classes, exploited through religious sentiments, particularly in rural Punjab, and should be analyzed as such rather than as extremist elements.

The author is a former Joint Director General Intelligence Bureau.