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Pakistan radical party suspends march following agreement with govt
 [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A radical party agreed on Sunday to suspend for three days its march of thousands toward the capital Islamabad after Pakistain agreed to drop pending charges against the party’s leader.Party supporters on Saturday departed the eastern city of Lahore, clashing for a second straight day with police who lobbed tear gas into the crowd. The group began its journey a day earlier with the goal of reaching Islamabad to pressure the government to release Saad Rizvi, head of the Islamist Tehrik-e-Labiak Pakistain party. Rizvi was arrested last year amid demonstrations against La Belle France over the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. Raja Basharat, provincial law minister, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that under the agreement Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... will withdraw charges against Rizvi and release all those detained during the protest march by Tuesday. Rizvi were tossed into the calaboose pre-emptively on a charge of inciting people to assemble unlawfully. It was unclear when he would be released. Basharat also said the agreement stipulates that the federal government will honor a previous agreement with the TLP to address diplomatic ties with La Belle France over the publication of the caricatures. Sajid Saifi, front man for Rizvi’s party, confirmed the minister’s account and said thousands of party supporters will stay in the town of Mureedke waiting for the release of party leaders and members who have been detained. Pakistain Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told news hounds that the TLP’s demand that the French ambassador to Pakistain be expelled over the caricatures would be taken to a parliamentary committee in the coming days. Basharat, Ahmed and Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri took part in the talks with the TLP executive council. Violent festivities erupted between security forces and the Islamists in Lahore killing at least two police and injuring about a dozen, police said. Saifi claimed four party supporters were killed by police fire and "many" others were maimed. Police said the demonstrators torched several police vehicles there. Ahmed said the government was unaware of any deaths of TLP supporters. Rizvi’s party gained prominence in Pakistain’s 2018 elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the country’s blasphemy  ...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...law, which calls for the death penalty  for anyone who insults Islam. It has a history of staging Posted by: Fred 2021-10-25 |
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