Pakistan: Four killed at banned Islamist party rally
October 22, 2021
Two protesters and two officers were killed when police tried to stop demonstrators from leaving the city of Lahore. Members of the outlawed TLP party want to march to Islamabad to demand the release of their leader.
Supporters of an Islamist party marching for the release of their leader clashed with policeImage: K.M. Chaudary/AP Photo/picture alliance
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At least two police officers and two demonstrators were killed in Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday when a protest staged by hardline Islamists turned violent.
Thousands of members of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party were participating in what they called their "Long March," hoping to walk all the way to the capital, Islamabad, nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles) away. Local and national security services had been deployed in an effort to keep them from leaving Lahore, including blocking the main highway to Islamabad with shipping containers.
The demonstrators were hoping to reach Islamabad and put pressure on the government to release their leader, Saad Rizvi, from prison. Rizvi was charged under anti-terrorism laws following violent protests that erupted in Pakistan last year after caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published in France.
Pakistan's anti-France protests — in pictures
The government is set to ask parliament to vote on whether to expel the French ambassador, following a week of violent clashes. Despite a ban on the Tehreek-e-Labaik party, it is still maintaining a widespread following.
Image: REUTERS
French ambassador risks expulsion
Traders shout anti-France slogans as they walk through a closed market on April 19, 2021. Pakistan's government is expected to ask parliament to vote on whether to expel the French ambassador, in a move widely seen as a bid to appease the radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Protesting the arrest of Saad Rizvi
Supporters of the TLP throw stones towards police firing tear gas to disperse them, at a protest in Lahore on Monday, April 12. TLP supporters have been protesting the arrest of their leader, Saad Rizvi, after he called for protests to push the government to expel France's ambassador over depictions of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Image: K.M. Chaudary/AP/picture alliance
Mourning deaths on both sides
People attend the funeral of a supporter of the banned TLP, who was killed during a protest in Lahore. The government has banned the Islamist party, which is known for instigating disruptive street protests in response to what it deems to be violations of the blasphemy law. The ban was implemented after multiple police officers were killed and over 100 people injured.
Image: REUTERS
Officers and protesters killed in clashes
TLP supporters chant slogans in Lahore on April 19. The group has been protesting since French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of the press to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Police in Lahore said at least six officers were killed, while 11 others were held hostage for several hours at a mosque. The TLP says several of its supporters also died in clashes.
Image: REUTERS
Strike shuts down major cities
A hawker on a bicycle rides by a closed wholesale cloth market during a nationwide strike called for by the TLP, in Karachi, on April 19. Many powerful clerics in the country voiced their support for the strike, which saw markets and public transport closed in Karachi, and internet services suspended in Lahore.
Image: Akhtar Soomro/REUTERS
French told to leave Pakistan
A TLP supporter hurls stones towards police in Lahore, on April 13. Last week, the French embassy advised its citizens to temporarily leave the country. The hashtag #FrenchLeavePakistan" was trending with tens of thousands of tweets last week, as anti-French sentiment continued to brew over the contentious cartoon, published in 'Charlie Hebdo.'
Image: REUTERS
Widespread following despite government ban
Protesters display a pile of used teargas canisters which, according to them, were fired by the police. Although the government banned the TLP, its campaign continues to find support even among mainstream religious groups. The TLP had, however, agreed to "call off its protest sit-ins from the entire country" after long negotiations, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.
Image: REUTERS
Criticism over official handling of protests
Protesters receive medical aid at a mosque in Lahore. Prime Minister Imran Khan's government has been heavily criticized for mishandling the protests and not acting swiftly against violent protesters. Protesters are also calling for a boycott of French products, and for the release of 26-year-old leader Saad Rizvi.
Image: REUTERS
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TLP has a long history of elaborate protests and sit-ins to try and get successive governments to give in to their demands. Six police officers were killed in April when the TLP staged days of rallies that paralyzed roads.
For the past several years, their political campaigning has focused on supporting Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law that calls for anyone who publicly insults Islam to be put to death.
Violence erupted when police tried to bar the marchers from leaving the Lahore. Rizvi issued a statement saying that his party had been demonstrating peacefully before officers threw tear gas cans at them.
Sajid Saifi, a TLP spokesman, said that the police's brutal reaction injured hundreds of protestors. Party sympathizers shared videos on social media showing police firing tear gas shells as some of the injured protesters waited for medical aid.
The deadly clashes came at a time when support for Prime Minister Imran Khan is plummeting amid rising food and fuel prices and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Khan was visiting Lahore on Friday when the protest began.
