Ministers say violence won’t be tolerated, TLP will face action

ISLAMABAD: Top cabinet members on Thursday vowed to take action against those involved in recent violent protests orchestrated by the TLP and made it clear that the individuals using firearms and setting ablaze public property would not be spared.

However, they made it clear that only the TLP office holders and members would be the target of the planned crackdown — amid the false propaganda that the government is set to go after all the religious leaders.

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Violence cannot be allowed in the name of right to protest, they said and added that the government would take very possible measure to protect the life and property of people.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his deputy Talal Chaudhry, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf were speaking after meeting on law and order situation.

On the other hand, the Punjab government imposed Section 144 across the province after the TLP announced protests on Friday.

BAN TLP

The promise came after the Maryam Nawaz-led Punjab government on Thursday said they would recommend the Centre to ban the TLP as law enforcers continue hunting down the culprits who paralysed the routine life at a time when Pakistan is facing the challenge of rising terrorism and aggression along its western borders by the Afghan Taliban and terrorist groups they are housing in Afghanistan.

In fact, the Afghan Taliban issued a statement in favour of TLP during the violent protests, showing the connection between different terrorist and extremist groups despite the differences on interpretation of Islam.

Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday made it clear that using a 48-hour ceasefire agreed between the Taliban regime of Afghanistan and Pakistan a day earlier as a tactic to buy time won’t be acceptable.

“If in 48 hours they want to resolve the issues and address our genuine demands, then we are ready for them,” Shehbaz, reiterating that the TTP [Khawarij] terrorists should be eliminated and that Afghan territory not be used to plot attacks.

THEY WANTED TO RELEASE MURDERERS

Naqvi rejected the impression that the government did not hold talks with the TLP protesters before using force to clear the GT Road at Muridke which they had blocked during the attempted march towards Islamabad.

As the ministers questioned the reasoning behind staging a protest over the Gaza issue at a time when Pakistan with the help of other nations had ensure a peace deal signed in Cairo, they also talked how the armed protesters resorted to indiscriminate firing and torched vehicles as well as other public assets.

Naqvi revealed that the TLP conditions increased with the passage of time and had even included the release of killers from prisons.