World News | Talks with TLP Protesters Remain 'inconclusive', Efforts on to Defuse Situation: Pak Interior Minister

Islamabad, Oct 29 (PTI) The talks with the supporters of a banned radical Islamist party in Pakistan have so far remained "inconclusive" and efforts were on to disperse the protesters, who are marching towards Islamabad and pressing the government to release their party chief and expel the French ambassador, peacefully, a senior minister said on Friday.

The rally by tens of thousands of members of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) started after the government announced that it cannot meet its demand for the expulsion of the French ambassador. The protestors have been marching on the GT Road and reportedly crossed Gujranwala city, approximately 220 kms from Islamabad, by overcoming barricades and police.

Also Read | 1.5 Million Children in Central Africa Need Emergency Aid: UN.

Life in the areas surrounding its route continues to remain disrupted as cellphone and internet services also remain suspended. Lahore's link to Rawalpindi and Islamabad has also been cut off from the GT Road.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed made the remarks after the 35th National Security Committee (NSC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by relevant Federal Cabinet members, National Security Adviser, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, all three Services Chiefs, chiefs of ISI, Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency, and senior civil and military officers.

Also Read | 1.5 Million Penguins ‘Supercolony’ Earlier Detected From Space, Discovered on Antarctica’s Danger Islands.

He said that it was agreed in the meeting to keep peace in the country at all costs, adding that efforts were being made to disperse the protestors peacefully after holding talks with their leadership, including with the detained TLP chief Saad Rizvi.

“The talks have so far remained inconclusive, but there is a possibility of more talks today,” he said, adding the government was trying to defuse the situation.

According to a statement by the PM Office, the NSC received a detailed briefing on the country's internal security situation and the ongoing agitation by the TLP.

“Taking serious note of the unprovoked violent attacks committed by TLP members, the Committee resolved not to tolerate any further breach of law by this proscribed group,” according to the statement.

Prime Minister Khan stressed that no group or entity will be allowed to cause public disruption or use violence to pressure the government.

The Committee praised the police for their professionalism and restraint despite being directly targeted and casualties, including four deaths and over 400 injured, but warned that the state's restraint should not be seen as a sign of weakness.

While emphasising that the government recognised the right of peaceful protest of all Pakistanis, the Committee members were unanimous that TLP was deliberately employing violence against public property, state officials, and ordinary citizens to create instability in the country and that this shall not be tolerated.

“All organs of the state stood ready to act as per the law to protect the life and property of citizens,” it said, adding that the prime minister assured that the government will firmly stand behind the law enforcing agencies as they act to enforce the law and protect the public.

Interior Minister Ahmed said the paramilitary rangers have been given powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act to assist the civil administration in Punjab. He said the rangers will operate under the control of the Punjab Government.

The minister said that Prime Minister Khan will also take the nation into confidence over the issue on Saturday.

He said four policemen had been killed in clashes with TLP workers, while more than 80 had been injured, eight of them critically.

"We stand by our position and we are waiting for them (TLP) to abide by their commitment to open the GT (Grand Trunk) Road," he said.

The TLP, which was established in 2015, started its protest last Friday to force the government to free Rizvi and expel the French ambassador as a protest against publishing blasphemous cartoons in France last year.

TLP's founder late Khadim Rizvi's son Saad Rizvi has been detained by the Punjab government since April last under the maintenance of 'public order' (MPO) following the party's protest against the blasphemous caricatures published in France and its demand that the French ambassador be sent back and import of goods from that country be banned.

The TLP had given a two-day deadline on Sunday to the government to meet its demands to release the party chief and expel the French envoy or face a sit-in in the capital.

The death toll has risen to 19, which includes 11 TLP workers and eight policemen, since the clashes broke out between the TLP and the police over a week ago.

Prime Minister Khan had categorically announced that his government could not meet the TLP's demand of closing down the French embassy in Pakistan, saying that there was no French ambassador in the country at present.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)