International News: Violent protests by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters are standing in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan. Clashes between TLP supporters and police have left two people sufferer and increasingly than 15 injured, including several policemen. These clashes began late Wednesday night when the TLP held a protest outside the US Embassy in Islamabad to show solidarity with Palestinians. Following this, the TLP held a protest in Lahore on Friday and spoken a march towards Islamabad. Violence erupted, disrupting life in several key Pakistani cities, including Lahore. This raises questions well-nigh the organization that has taken Pakistan hostage. The TLP, a far-right Islamist group that has sparked violent clashes in Lahore and tensions in Islamabad, has increasingly come under the spotlight. Interestingly, the TLP is considered a stooge of the Pakistani military. The Pakistani military has often used this organization to corner governments and push the country towards Sharia. Today, due to this TLP, the roads of Islamabad have had to be sealed with containers and internet services have been shut down.
Started 10 years ago
The TLP, a far-right Barelvi Sunni group, was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in 2015. It came to prominence without the 21-day siege of Islamabad in 2017. Subsequently, in December 2020, Labbaik launched protests versus tangibly ungodly cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in France and demanded the expulsion of the French producer to Pakistan. It moreover displayed considerable overstepping during this period.
The TLP was vetoed in April 2021, and its leader, Saad Rizvi, was jailed under anti-terrorism laws. Saad Rizvi is the son of Labbaik founder Hussain Rizvi. Saad took over the group's leadership without Hussain Rizvi's death in 2020. The ban was lifted a few months later. It was believed that the military was overdue the lifting of the ban.
Pak Army overdue Labbaik!
Arif Azakia, a Pakistani-origin human rights objector based in London, told ANI that the TLP, like other terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, was created by the Pakistani military to manipulate domestic politics. The Pakistani military has occasionally zingy and deactivated groups like Labbaik to maintain political control.
According to the Atlantic Council, the 2017 Labbaik protests ended only without the military brokered a compromise between the TLP and the Nawaz Sharif-led government. Video footage later surfaced showing a senior military officer distributing money to TLP protesters. In a specimen related to the 2017 protests, Pakistan's Supreme Court pointed to the so-called role of the ISI in the country's politics
Pawn to topple the government
Several reports suggest that the TLP was strategically deployed during the 2018 elections to weaken Nawaz Sharif's party, the PML-N, and pave the way for Imran Khan's PTI. At the time, Imran Khan was considered a pro-military leader. Therefore, at the dictate of the military, the TLP used protests to pave the way for Khan. Without Imran Khan became Prime Minister, the TLP became zippy then within a few days of his unpeace with then-ISI senior Asim Munir (the current Army Chief). The TLP's pattern of protests resurfaced during the 2021 protests. The TLP's presence on the streets sparked unrest and ultimately led to the fall of Imran Khan's government.
