Pakistan bans hard-line Islamist party known for its fierce anti-blasphemy stance

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan banned a hard-line Islamist party on Thursday, more than a week after heated clashes with police that left at least five people dead.

The ban follows a march by the party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), earlier this month from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital city, Islamabad. It escalated into a vicious street battle between TLP supporters and police in Lahore and the nearby city of Murdike, leading to a crackdown on the party, which has come to be known for these violent confrontations.

A statement from the office of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the ban was unanimously approved by the federal cabinet, citing “violent and terrorist activities.” The ban is the latest chapter in a complicated relationship between the Pakistani state and the TLP, which has amassed considerable grassroots support in recent years for its hard-line views, particularly on blasphemy or the denigration of Islam.

According to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, people who insult Islam or Islamic figures can face a possible death sentence. The TLP demands death as a punishment, and human rights groups say the party’s supporters sometimes carry out brutal mob lynchings even before people accused of blasphemy go on trial. Pakistan has seen a significant spike in blasphemy cases in recent years, in line with the TLP’s rise.

The TLP was officially launched as a political party in 2017 by a fiery cleric, though its ideology took hold earlier, following the 2011 assassination of the governor of Pakistan’s populous Punjab province, Salman Taseer, who was outspoken against the blasphemy laws. The murder led to a wave of support for the governor’s killer, Mumtaz Qadri, one of Taseer’s bodyguards, who was hailed by some as a hero and defender of Islam. The TLP is not considered a mainstream political party, but it has a large ideological support base, especially in Punjab province.

The move to ban the party came from the government in Punjab, where the recent protests took place. Before the ban, police in Punjab raided the house of the TLP’s leader, Saad Rizvi, and the government sealed mosques and seminaries associated with the party. Some of the party’s affiliates are now also facing anti-terrorism charges, according to Punjab’s information minister, Azma Bokhari.

“This is not a religious or political party — they hide behind religion to spread disorder and try to do politics over dead bodies,” Bokhari said in an interview with local media.

The TLP announced the protest as a show of solidarity with Palestinians following the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and protesters were set to gather in front of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. Ahead of the protest, the government suspended mobile internet service in the capital and cordoned off major roads with shipping containers to keep protesters out.

Khurram Iqbal, an associate professor of security studies at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, says both external and internal factors created the environment for this crackdown to take place, including Pakistan’s recent realignment with the United States.

“We can ill afford any pressure group charging on the American Embassy,” he says.

Azaz Syed, a senior Pakistani journalist, says the TLP recognized this dynamic as an opportunity.

“They thought that they would raise the concern that Pakistan is supporting America, and America is bringing peace after a compromise with Israel,” Syed says. “They wanted to further utilize it for gaining more support.”

But Pakistan’s civilian government and military leadership also took this as an affront, he says, contributing to the crackdown. “It meant that they are actually challenging them.”

The TLP was previously banned in 2021 after the party held violent protests in response to caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in France. The party called for the expulsion of the French ambassador, and thousands of people gathered in the streets to pressure the government to act on their demand. The ban was later removed with the condition that the TLP must refrain from violence.

Pakistan’s leaders have defended the current ban against the TLP as necessary to maintain public order. In an interview with local media, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif called for a “hard state” approach against the party.

“Such religious extremist groups, which resort to violence and cause damage to property, cannot be tolerated in Pakistan,” he said.

Pakistan has also taken a hard-line approach toward other political parties, most recently the party of imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan, starting in 2023. Some leaders from Khan’s party held protests last week against the crackdown on TLP, calling it unconstitutional.