ASIA/PAKISTAN - Militants of the "Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan" in action: analysts and social organizations ask the government for clarification

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - What role do the "civilian militias" or "vigilantes" of the Islamist party "Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan" (TLP) play, who roam the streets of Pakistani cities to punish people accused of blasphemy or contempt of Islam? This is the question analysts and representatives of politics and civil society are asking in view of a phenomenon that is shaking Pakistani society. In this context, members of non-governmental organizations, social organizations and religious communities of various faiths are asking the government for clarification in the face of the "extrajudicial" actions of groups that are terrorizing the population and threatening the security of citizens and their right to live freely.
Three of the recent cases have sparked a heated debate in the Pakistani media. These are cases related to the accusation of "blasphemy on social media", an area that TLP members seem to be paying a lot of attention to. One case concerns Shah Nawaz Kumbhar, a doctor from Sindh province, who is accused of sharing blasphemous content on Facebook.
Another case concerns 50-year-old Abdul Ali, owner of a hotel in Quetta, in Balochistan province, who was also arrested for allegedly posting derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad on social media and killed while in police custody. The third case concerns 40-year-old Christian nurse Shagufta Kiran, mother of four children, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy on WhatsApp (see Fides, 20/9/2024). In these and other cases, the active involvement of TLP members was found, appearing publicly or through intimidation attempts.
The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is an Islamist party banned by the government in 2021. In the autumn of the same year, the TLP entered into an agreement with the Pakistani government, pledging to respect the constitution and not support violent protests. In November 2023, it was officially re-recognized by the Pakistani government as a "political party registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan."
The government entered into an agreement with the TLP "with a view to the overriding national interest and long-term perspective to ensure that violence does not recur in the future." The agreement stipulated that Section 7 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 1997 (charges of terrorist acts) would be applicable to persons accused of blasphemy under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (defamation of the Prophet Muhammad). In addition, the parties involved agreed to set up a special department called the Counter Blasphemy Wing within the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The department was set up with the aim of improving the ability to monitor “desecration of religions,” but because Pakistan’s blasphemy law is designed this way, it actually applies specifically to Islam, especially to content spread online.
The agreement also guarantees an impartial and speedy trial for defendants accused of blasphemy, which “should actually protect against extrajudicial actions and lynchings that are still carried out by militants,” notes Farzana Imran of the Christian organization LEAD Pakistan (Legal Evangelical Association Development), calling on the authorities to ensure the rule of law and not allow a para-state militia of “moral or religious police” to obstruct the work of the police or ordinary justice.
Muhammad Amir Rana, a Muslim scholar and co-founder of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, who writes as a columnist for the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, recalls that last July the TLP called for violence against the Supreme Court of Pakistan after the acquittal of a member of the Ahmadiyya community (considered "heretical" by Islam). And he asks: "Why does the state compromise and tolerate a group that is responsible for mass violence, vandalism, the killing of innocent citizens and damage to property, and that tarnishes the country's international image by promoting extremism?" (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 27/9/2024)

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