Pakistan Crisis: Tahreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s Terrorism is Just Part of the Problem
By Arshad Alam, New
Age Islam
22 April
2021
The Major Issue Is With The Religious
Orientation Of The State Itself. The Decision By The Pakistan Government To Ban
The TLP Is Part Of International Posturing Against Fighting Islamic Extremism.
Highlights
1. Internally,
the government has regularly appeased the TLP rather than actively seek to
marginalize it.
2. The
TLP is popular because of its support amongst the proletariat, aided by madrasa
graduates.
3. Any
decisive fight against religious extremism will need a re-orientation of
Pakistan’s ideological foundation.
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Tahreek-e-Labbaik
Pakistan
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The
decision of the government to ban the Tahreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) will
possibly fool no one. If through the ban the government is posturing that it is
serious in its fight against terrorism and extremism, then those who are paying
attention to what is happening in Pakistan also remember that it was the same
Imran Khan who strongly supported the TLP when he was in the running for prime
ministership. In 2017, when the TLP was running amok in Islamabad over
blasphemy issue, Imran Khan had blamed the then government for the situation
but was silent on the blatant extremism of the TLP. The message was very clear:
when he would come to power, he would be sympathetic to the demands of the TLP.
Thus, even before becoming the prime minister, he was bending over backwards to
appease the radicals.
This
appeasement continued even after he came to power. The TLP led a huge
demonstration in 2018 after Asiya Bibi was acquitted of blasphemy charges. The
Imran Khan government signed an agreement with the TLP and shamelessly acceded
to their demand that the beleaguered woman will not be allowed to leave the
country pending a final revision of the verdict by the Pakistan Supreme Court.
Asiya Bibi did eventually leave the country but then it was clear for everyone
that Imran Khan had capitulated to the extremists. He could also not retain him
own economic advisor, Atif Mian, simply because he was an Ahmadiyya and the TLP
demanded his resignation on the same ground. In ceding ground to the TLP, Imran
Khan compromised even on matters of state policy, which should have been his
preserve alone.
(Image Credit: Instagram/@imrankhan/PTI)
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Chief Saad Hussain Rizvi Released From Kot Lakhpat
Jail
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The current
decision to ban the TLP is subject to review by the highest Court. In all
probability, the winner will be TLP. Even if the Court upholds the ban, the
organization can continue to operate just by assuming a different name, a
tactic which has been openly used by terror groups in Pakistan.
It is
rather rich of the Imran Khan government to now turn around as pose itself as
leading the fight against radicalism and extremism by banning the TLP. It is
true that the TLP is an expression of a new phase of Barelwi radicalism which
has coalesced around the idea of blasphemy. But then blasphemy in Pakistan is
not an issue which was brought onto the political agenda by the TLP in the
first place. Rather if the Imran Khan government is really serious about
tackling the issue of extremism, then it should look inward: the policies of
the state itself are an invitation for extremist politics of the TLP variety.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan agitators burn a photo of
French President Emmanuel Macron in protest against blasphemous caricatures
published in France in 2020 | @SabahKashmiri | Twitter
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Till the
time Pakistan does not see itself as a secular state, religious and emotive
issues like blasphemy will continue to rile them. Today it is the Barelwis who
are calling the shots, tomorrow it could be some other group but the issue will
remain the same. The primary fault lies with the Pakistan establishment which
has made ‘Islamic way of life’ and ‘protection of the honor of the Prophet’ as
their cardinal principle. Groups like the TLP will always take the government
hostage over some perceived insult to the Islamic Prophet. In this case, they
are demanding that Pakistan should expel the French ambassador because the
French President had defended the cartoons of Muhammad as a matter of freedom
of expression. Such a demand is pointless as there will always be other
countries where similar things could happen. If Pakistan government starts to
take these demands seriously then it will have to expel many more than just the
French ambassador. The TLP knows this very well and it appears that its real
intention is to become a major internal political player by using this issue.
However, the very fact that the Pakistan government is willing to negotiate and
even discuss such demands clearly implies that it is not willing to take a hard
stance on the TLP. It is beyond belief that the government is now proposing to
discuss the expulsion of French ambassador in the National Assembly. The simple
reason why they are unable to swoop down on the TLP is because the religious
cause of blasphemy resonates with the common people.
Courtesy/ The Hindu
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If an
entire generation has been fed a diet of Islamic supremacy and Pakistan as the
land which is keeping the flag of Islam flying high in the subcontinent, then
it is not surprising that average Muslims will come to associate their
existence with the passionate defense of Islam. It is another matter that they
might be entirely unaware of the fact that they are being used as canon fodder
in someone else’s propaganda. What matters to them is the perception that Islam
is in danger and that they, as conscientious vanguards of Islam, must protect
this religion from any onslaught.
Moreover,
the social base of the TLP is comprised of extremely poor people who have had
historically no say in Pakistan politics. It is this marginalized section which
forms the backbone of this movement. For this class, even a symbolic blocking
of roads is some form of empowerment in a context where they have been
progressively divested of any social and political rights. When this poor and
marginalized class gets aided by the fiery sermons of Mullahs and madrasa
graduates, we get a heady cocktail by the name of TLP.
Saad Hussain Rizvi, the chief of Tehreek-e-Labbaik
Pakistan
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A credible
government which wants to root out extremism from its society and polity would
have never engaged with the TLP. Any engagement with the TLP is the first
instance of surrender and this is what seems to be happening. In the name of
‘talking to our own people’, the government is making the TLP a credible and
legitimate political alternative in the eyes of the common people. At the same
time, the government needs to empower the most marginalized sections of society
so that they do not fall for the lumpenism of the TLP. But then, in Pakistan,
sincere efforts are very few and most players are interested in exploiting
Islam for their own sectarian benefits. If the government dithers anymore on
dealing sternly with the TLP, then this march of radicalism will have grave
consequences for Pakistan.
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Arshad Alam is a columnist with
NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/pakistan-crisis-tahreek-e-labbaik/d/124723
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