Pakistan frees TLP chief right after agreement following protests | Opposition Articles

Saad Rizvi was released from Lahore after weeks of talks following a series of deadly protests in a predominantly Muslim country.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani authorities have released the head of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a spokesman for a religious group, after weeks of talks following a series of deadly protests in a predominantly Muslim country.

Saad Rizvi was released from the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday evening, TLP spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Al Jazeera. Local journalists showed pictures of Rizvi being welcomed by cheering fans at the party headquarters, located in the Lahore mosque.

This happened a few weeks after the government and TLP agreed to put an end to the 10-day violent protests that left at least seven police officers killed and wounded, while protesters blocked highways and highways in and around Lahore.

Rizvi was released on the night of his father, TLP founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s, the anniversary of Friday’s death. The party is planning a three-day event to commemorate this year.

A powerful and courageous Islamic scholar, the elder Rizvi started a TLP as a religious group that focused on denigrating Islam. The group wants all those suspected of being Islamic extremists to be executed, and executed associated with violence against the few Ahmadi religions in this country.

Rizvi’s funeral in November 2020 was attended by thousands of people.

Since its inception in 2017, the group has staged a series of national protests that have stalled Pakistan, often killing people in clashes with police.

In 2020, the group looked back protests against comments produced by French President Emmanuel Macron considered by many Muslims – including Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan – to be Islam.

The TLP demanded that the French ambassador resign and suspend all trade with the country, which the government did not approve.

In April, the Pakistani government decided to ban TLP under anti-terrorism laws, taking Saad Rizvi in ​​jail in accordance with the law.

Although an agreement reached to end the recent protests has not been disclosed, on November 7 PM, the Khan prime minister rescinded the TLP declaration as a banned party and the provincial government decided to remove Rizvi’s name from the anti-terrorism list.

Not everyone in the government seems to agree with this, while Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said the government had “backed down because of the TLP”.

“A lot of people think that’s a solution to the problem [the government] “It is not enough when the reality is that the government or the government is not ready to fight extremists,” he said in a statement to Islamabad.

Responding to Chaudhry’s comments, TLP spokesman Ashrafi denied that the group was spreading hatred and criticized “disruptions” on the “foreign hand”.

The TLP will hold a three-day commemoration of the first day of the death of founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi in ​​Lahore from Friday, the city’s police chief and chief of security, Ashrafi said.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeera’s digital journalist in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim.