At least six people, including four policemen, died and over 200 were injured in clashes with the cadre of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik (Pakistan), a radical Islamist group demanding the expulsion of the French envoy, in Pakistan as the government dithers between talking and taking actions against the group. Paramilitary forces have been deployed to contain the situation as the policy of tolerating and appeasing Islamists boomerangs on the government’s face. 

Thousands of protesters belonging to the banned TLP marched toward Islamabad, the national capital, demanding the government to shut down the French embassy and expel the French envoy over alleged anti-Islam comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron last year.  

The TLP had staged similar protests last year as well and called off the agitation only after it signed an agreement with the government. Last week, it resumed its agitation, accusing the government of backtracking from its promises.  

For days Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid kept claiming that talks with the group were moving in a positive direction. However, Prime Minister Imran Khan now refused to accept these demands amid violence and anarchy created by the TLP in Punjab province, the country’s most populous state.

Khan’s government toughened its stance against the group, saying it would be treated as a militant group. Authorities have planned to crush protesters by all means after protesters killed four policemen, reported Dawn newspaper. Rashid also accused demonstrators of initiating gunfire and said the government was deploying paramilitary forces in Punjab for two months.

The TLP gained prominence in 2018 when it registered as a political party to contest elections. Campaigning solely on the promise to protect the country’s blasphemous laws, the group got little electoral success but became influential because of its street power. Last year many experts had warned the government against entering into any agreement with the group, arguing it would ultimately legitimize their demands and empower their narrative. The warning proved prophetic: the group today wields more power and challenges the state authority on the streets. 

In the agreements signed with the group, the government assured they would consult parliament over the expulsion of the French envoy, delisting of the group from the banned group, and releasing its leaders. All these assurances were practically impossible to implement without having some serious implications. 

The government now finds itself in a fix. If it cracks down too hard on the group, it would ultimately push them towards full-fledged militancy. And, if it decides to make concessions, it will further erode the government’s authority and might also set off a chain of similar protests by other radical groups. 

The latter option would also severely damage its ties with Western countries--important for the country’s trade and security relations. 

In 2007, when General Pervez Musharraf took military action against the infamous Red Mosque in Islamabad, the Pakistan Taliban emerged as one of the most serious internal security challenges for the country.   

Reminding of those warning signs, Madiha Afzal, an expert on Pakistan and fellow at Brookings Institute, said in a tweet, “There are echoes of Lal Masjid in 2007 in the current situation with the TLP. That was the beginning of a catastrophic few years.” 

(SAM)