Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
The government succeeded in convincing the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to end their sit-in on Monday after hours-long negotiations, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Religious Affairs said.
The negotiations were held on the directions of the prime minister by a team of government officials, led by Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri. The government’s negotiation party also included Interior Minister Ijaz Shah, Islamabad Commissioner Aamir Ahmed and prime minister’s adviser Shehzad Akbar.
TLP Chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi was expected to formally announce the end of the protest. Cellular services were restored in the capital soon after the talks.
Islamabad administration had deployed 3,113 security personnel including police, Rangers and Frontier Corps at Faizabad — where supporters of TLP had gathered to protest against publication of blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in France. The rally in Rawalpindi, which attracted up to 5,000 people on Sunday, continued today, with around a thousand protesters gathered at the roadblock preventing them from entering the capital.
A notification, dated November 15, issued by the office of Islamabad Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) detailed security arrangements in the capital to prevent violent incidents from taking place.
“It is expected that participants in the rally could go violent and proceed towards French embassy by breaking their promises with the district administration,” the notification read. Senior officers of Islamabad’s administration had approached TLP leaders yesterday after they sought security cover for Sunday’s protest rally.
