Govt imposes ban on TLP, notification issued

ISLAMABAD: The Federal government on Thursday imposed a ban on the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) under the anti-terrorism act, ARY News reported.

A notification has been issued in this regard by the Ministry of Interior.

The notification said the federal government “has reasonable grounds to believe that Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan is engaged in terrorism, acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of Law Enforcement Agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties including vehicles, and caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, and has used, threatened, coerced, intimidated, and overawed the government, the public and created sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large”.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 11B(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the Federal Government is pleased to list Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan in the First Schedule to the said Act as a proscribed organisation for the purposes of the said Act,” it added.

Addressing a joint presser along with Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri earlier, Sheikh Rasheed said that a separate summary would be sent to the cabinet for dissolution of the TLP through a reference in the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday (tomorrow).

“The summaries were kept separate on the advice of the law minister and attorney general,” said the interior minister, who further announced that no one involved in the violent acts across the country would be spared.

PM Imran takes govt functionaries into confidence

Later, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the government functionaries and took them into confidence regarding the move to ban TLP.

According to sources, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed briefed the meeting on the overall law and order situation and said that the TLP is declared a proscribed organization and would face a complete ban on any sort of activities.

Speaking during the meeting, Prime Minister Imran Khan lauded the sacrifices of the policemen and said that the spirit with which they played their role in restoring peace was commendable.

It is pertinent to note here that the party’s protests had disrupted traffic in various cities of the country since Monday after the arrest of their chief Saad Rizvi.