Islamabad:
An extremist Pakistan political party accountable for paralysing swathes of the nation with anti-France protests will be banned, a senior minister mentioned Wednesday.
Thousands of supporters from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have blocked big intersections in cities all through Pakistan this week, with two police officers killed in clashes with rioters.
“We have decided to ban the TLP and the draft is going to the cabinet for approval,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference.
He mentioned the party’s demands risked generating Pakistan look like a “radical nation” to the outdoors globe.
The TLP are notorious for holding days-extended road protests more than blasphemy problems, causing big disruption to the nation.
But successive governments have a extended history of avoiding confrontation with hardline Islamist groups, fearing any crackdown on religious parties could spark wider violence in the deeply conservative Islamic republic.
Dozens have been banned considering the fact that the September 11 attacks in the United States, nonetheless, when Pakistan was below helpful military rule and cracked down on radicals.
Banned parties can not contest elections, raise funds or even preserve a physical workplace.
The most up-to-date protests erupted soon after the detention Monday of TLP leader Saad Rizvi, who has considering the fact that been charged below anti-terrorism laws.
He was taken into custody hours soon after calling for a march on the capital to once again demand the expulsion of the French ambassador.
The group has fanned Francophobia more than the French government’s help for Charlie Hebdo magazine to republish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed — an act deemed blasphemous by a lot of Muslims.
“We are in favour of protecting the Prophet’s honour, but the demand which they are seeking could have portrayed Pakistan as a radical nation worldwide,” mentioned minister Rashid Ahmed.
Rizvi is the son of a firebrand cleric and preceding head of the TLP, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who died in November soon after major huge anti-France demonstrations.
During these protests, TLP supporters brought the capital to a standstill for 3 days that saw heavy street fighting and authorities reduce mobile phone coverage in Islamabad and surrounding locations.
The demonstrations ended soon after a meeting in between the government and party leaders, who claimed Islamabad had agreed to expel the French ambassador.
The government has by no means acknowledged specifics of any agreement.
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