Federal Cabinet approves ban on TLP under Anti-Terrorism Act

In a decisive move reflecting escalating tensions over religious extremism and foreign policy, Pakistan’s federal government on October 24, 2025, officially banned the hardline Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, just a day after the cabinet’s unanimous approval. This action, prompted by deadly clashes during TLP-led protests against Israel’s Gaza operations that killed at least five people and injured hundreds, marks the second proscription of the group in four years—the first in 2021 was short-lived after concessions on non-violence. While the government hails it as a safeguard for national security, skeptics on social media and in expert circles question its sincerity, pointing to TLP’s past alleged ties to the military establishment and suggesting the ban may serve to quell domestic unrest ahead of elections rather than eradicate root causes like blasphemy law misuse and economic grievances.

Key Developments

• Cabinet Approval and Notification: On October 23, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet endorsed Punjab’s recommendation to ban TLP, citing its role in “terrorist and violent activities.” The Interior Ministry formalized this on October 24, adding TLP to the First Schedule of proscribed organizations alongside Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
• Immediate Measures: TLP’s assets, including bank accounts and properties like mosques, face freezing; membership becomes punishable by up to 10 years in prison; online platforms will be blocked. A Supreme Court reference is pending for ratification, with heightened security in Punjab districts.
• Casualty and Arrest Figures: Protests from October 9 turned violent on October 13 in Muridke and Lahore, resulting in one police officer and four TLP supporters dead (reports vary up to 16 total deaths), over 1,000 arrests, and widespread looting of police armories.

TLP’s Trajectory: From Blasphemy Defender to Banned Entity

Founded in 2015 by cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, TLP gained traction by championing Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy laws, mobilizing masses against perceived insults to Islam. Its 2017 Islamabad sit-in paralyzed the capital for 20 days, forcing government concessions, while 2021 anti-France protests led to the initial ban after 19 deaths. Lifted after six months via a non-aggression pact, TLP under Saad Rizvi (Rizvi’s son) secured provincial seats and influenced elections with anti-Western, pro-Palestine fervor. However, recent Gaza-triggered unrest—demanding severed Israel ties—exposed its disruptive edge, with protesters blockading roads and clashing over Islamabad’s perceived softness on the conflict. Analysts note TLP’s grassroots appeal among Punjab’s marginalized, but accuse it of inciting mob violence that undermines state authority.

Pakistan’s renewed clampdown on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) unfolds against a backdrop of intertwined religious fervor, geopolitical pressures, and domestic power plays, raising profound questions about the sustainability of such bans in a nation long grappling with extremism’s undercurrents. As the Interior Ministry’s October 24 notification echoes through Punjab’s volatile streets—where TLP once commanded throngs of devotees chanting for blasphemy’s iron fist—the move feels both inevitable and fraught. Triggered by a cascade of fury over Israel’s Gaza onslaught, the protests that spiraled into bloodshed underscore TLP’s enduring potency as a mobilizer of the aggrieved, yet also its peril as a catalyst for anarchy. This detailed examination draws from official announcements, on-the-ground dispatches, and the unfiltered discourse on X (formerly Twitter) to dissect the ban’s genesis, machinery, and horizon, revealing not just a policy pivot but a mirror to Pakistan’s fractured sociopolitical mosaic.

Historical Underpinnings: TLP’s Rise and Recurrent Reckonings

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan emerged in 2015 not as a conventional political outfit but as a clarion call against the erosion of sacred boundaries, rooted in the founder’s unyielding defense of blasphemy statutes that carry the death penalty for perceived slights against Islam. Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a wheelchair-bound preacher with a voice like rolling thunder, galvanized urban underclasses and rural faithful alike, transforming niche grievances into national spectacles. The 2017 Faizabad dharna—a 20-day blockade of Islamabad—exemplified this: Demanding the ouster of a law minister accused of diluting blasphemy protections, TLP extracted a humiliating capitulation from the PML-N government, including ministerial resignations and a judicial inquiry. This victory cemented its electoral footprint; by 2018, TLP polled over 2.2 million votes, clinching seats in Punjab’s assembly despite no national presence.

The 2021 recurrence was bloodier. Protests against French cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad morphed into nationwide sieges, claiming 19 lives and paralyzing transport. Islamabad’s hasty ban under the same Anti-Terrorism Act was reversed in October after a shadowy accord, reportedly mediated by intelligence agencies, promising TLP’s eschewal of violence in exchange for political leeway. Under Saad Rizvi, who inherited the mantle post-Rizvi’s 2020 death, the party pivoted toward broader Islamist populism—railing against U.S. influence, championing Palestine, and critiquing elite corruption—while retaining its core blasphemy vigilantism. Yet, whispers of establishment patronage persisted; TLP’s utility as a counterweight to liberal or PTI-aligned forces allegedly shielded it from full accountability. As one X commentator observed amid the latest uproar, “TLP was the ISI’s street muscle until it overreached—now it’s expendable.” This history of intermittent indulgence explains the ban’s déjà vu quality, but the Gaza flashpoint has rendered prior leniency untenable.

The Catalyst: Gaza’s Echoes and Punjab’s Inferno

The Israel-Hamas war, simmering since October 2023, found a volatile proxy in Pakistan’s streets when TLP framed Islamabad’s diplomacy as complicit betrayal. On October 9, 2025, thousands converged in Muridke—TLP’s ideological cradle near Lahore—demanding expulsion of Israel’s ambassador (non-existent) and a boycott of U.S.-influenced peace overtures, including rumored Trump administration proposals. Chants of “Zionist puppets” swelled into blockades of key highways, stranding commerce and commuters. Tensions boiled over on October 13 when Punjab police, enforcing dispersal orders, raided a TLP encampment. Eyewitness accounts and viral X footage depict pandemonium: Protesters, some armed with looted submachine guns and tear gas canisters from overrun stations, hurling Molotovs; officers retaliating with live rounds. The melee claimed one policeman and four activists outright, with unverified tallies from TLP sympathizers pushing fatalities to 16, including bystanders felled in crossfire.

The violence cascaded: Lahore’s thoroughfares became barricaded infernos, with torched vehicles and pillaged outposts; Islamabad braced for spillover as reinforcements poured in. Over 1,000 TLP affiliates were detained, including mid-level operatives, while Saad Rizvi—last glimpsed bloodied in unconfirmed videos—evaporated into seclusion, fueling martyrdom narratives. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, invoking provincial autonomy, petitioned the center on October 18, decrying TLP’s “existential threat” to public order. Social media amplified the chaos: Hashtags like #TLPTerror and #BanTLP trended, blending official condemnations with partisan barbs—one post likening the unrest to “a Frankenstein the army regrets creating.” Geopolitically, the protests exposed fissures; Pakistan’s initial nod to a U.S.-brokered Gaza truce drew TLP’s ire, prompting a parliamentary U-turn that only inflamed the base.

Comparative Impact: TLP Protests Over Time
Event
2017 Faizabad Dharna
2021 Anti-France Riots
2025 Gaza Clashes

Enforcement Mechanics: Legal Teeth and Security Blanket

The ban’s scaffolding rests on the Anti-Terrorism Act’s Schedule I, empowering the state to proscribe entities “prejudicial to national security.” TLP joins 78 others, from al-Qaeda affiliates to Baloch separatists, triggering a cascade: Financial institutions must freeze linked accounts within 48 hours; the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to throttle TLP’s digital footprint, including apps and social handles; law enforcement empowered for warrantless raids on suspected dens. The notification, a crisp gazette excerpt, mandates a Supreme Court reference within 45 days for judicial vetting—a vulnerability TLP exploited last time via appeals alleging procedural lapses.

On the ground, Punjab has mobilized 5,000 Rangers and police across Lahore, Gujranwala, and Faisalabad divisions, with curfews in flux and mosques under surveillance for impromptu gatherings. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in a terse address, vowed “zero tolerance for anarchy,” but off-record leaks hint at inter-agency rifts: Once purported ISI assets to channel anti-India sentiment, TLP’s Gaza belligerence—clashing with Rawalpindi’s Israel thaw overtures—allegedly prompted the pivot. X buzz reflects this cynicism; posts decry the ban as “selective outrage,” with one analyst quipping, “Banned for protesting Gaza, not for past pogroms—priorities?”

Stakeholder Echoes: A Symphony of Skepticism and Support

The government’s chorus is unified: PM Sharif’s office frames the ban as “restoring writ,” echoing Naqvi’s pledge to shield minorities from TLP’s “hate ecosystem.” PTI voices, historically ambivalently toward TLP, now amplify calls for transparency, with Imran Khan allies hinting at establishment orchestration to sideline rivals pre-polls. TLP diehards, undeterred, brand it “un-Islamic tyranny,” vowing underground resilience; Rizvi’s cryptic audio—circulating on Telegram—urges “jihad against oppressors.”

Civil society splits: Human rights advocates like the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) applaud the curb on vigilantism but decry absent reforms to blasphemy laws, which spawn 1,500+ cases yearly, mostly fabricated. International observers, from Reuters to Arab News, contextualize it within Pakistan’s FATF gray-list struggles, where curbing terror financing demands such iron fists. On X, the discourse veers conspiratorial: “Staged drama to appease Trump?” posits one thread, linking the timing to U.S. election ripples.

Reactions Across the Spectrum
Stakeholder
Government/PMO
TLP Supporters
Analysts/Experts
International Media

Horizons of Uncertainty: Blowback, Ballot Boxes, and Broader Reforms

As the ban’s first 24 hours yield eerie calm in Punjab—punctuated by sporadic detentions—the road ahead bristles with contingencies. Optimists foresee TLP’s fragmentation, its 3-5% vote share scattering to PML-N or independents in 2028 polls, easing blasphemy’s electoral stranglehold. Pessimists brace for mutation: Decentralized cells could spawn lone actors or fuse with TTP, whose attacks surged 70% this year. Legal theater looms large; TLP’s litigators, versed in 2021’s playbook, may stall via petitions alleging bias, dragging ratification into 2026.

Yet, the ban’s true litmus lies beyond edicts—in addressing TLP’s fertile soil: Youth unemployment at 11%, blasphemy’s weaponization against minorities (over 80 cases targeting non-Muslims), and foreign policy zigzags alienating the pious base. Without deradicalization akin to post-2009 Swat models or economic lifelines, this risks being performative politics. X futurists speculate alliances: “TLP remnants cozying with JUI-F?” while others eye Riyadh’s influence, given Saudi unease with unchecked Salafism. In essence, Pakistan’s TLP tango—ban today, bargain tomorrow?—perpetuates a cycle where extremism thrives not despite the state, but through its fissures. True rupture demands not just prohibitions, but a societal compact: Inclusive governance, equitable growth, and a recalibrated faith-politics interface. Until then, the streets whisper of sequels.

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