ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry has accused the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) of spreading disorder rather than staging a peaceful protest, saying there is no longer any space in Pakistan for “mob politics” or coercive tactics to press demands.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Chaudhry said the state would not be blackmailed by any group.
He stressed that while peaceful protest is a constitutional right, the government will not allow actions that create unrest.
He said that the government had no difficulty stopping roughly 2,000 TLP protesters in Lahore if needed, but authorities decided to use minimum force.
He said the TLP has a history of violent protests in which security forces and public property were attacked and several people — including security personnel — lost their lives.
He questioned why protests were being held in the name of Gaza and Palestine when, he said, people worldwide supporting Palestine were celebrating the recent peace deal.
“If the Palestinian people are satisfied, why is this protest being staged in their name? The answer is simple: the motive is something else,” Chaudhry said.
The minister alleged that the TLP used its mosque in Samanabad as a political office and that protesters, hiding behind the mosque’s sanctity, attacked police with sticks, nails-studded clubs, chemical agents, glass pellets and sling-like objects.
He said CCTV and Safe City cameras had been damaged and that footage showed firing and incidents of aerial firing by the group.
Chaudhry said more than a dozen police and ranger personnel were injured. He maintained the group that moved out from its central office in Samanabad — numbering no more than 2,000 — could have been stopped had force been used. Instead, barriers and other non-coercive measures were deployed to prevent escalation.
He added that many arrests have already been made and that evidence — including videos and confessions showing weapons and masks used against security forces — has been collected. “Those who incited violence and led these actions will be held accountable and brought to trial,” he warned.
Chaudhry defended the government’s handling as aimed at protecting ordinary citizens and preserving Pakistan’s image and public property, saying there was no room in the country for politics that relies on mobs, or for using religion and extremism for personal ends.