Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is in the spotlight for resort to violence in a religious and political context. The federal government, last week, announced its decision to ban the TLP as a political party. The TLP has a right to appeal against the decision. It can take the matter to a court in 30 days.

The TLP started its political journey by highlighting the issue of blasphemy. Its leaders adhere to the Barelvi sect of Islam and the party is now considered the political face of Sunni-Barelvi Islam. The Labbaik-Ya-Rasool-Allah movement was created after the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, a police commando who killed Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer. The group had first emerged as Ghazi Rehai Tehreek (Free Qadri Movement). After Qadri’s execution, it turned the movement into a political campaign. The group registered itself with the Election Commission of Pakistan as Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan and took part in the 2018 general elections.

An extremist Brelvi cleric, the late Khadim Hussain Rizvi, known for his fiery speeches and extreme views on the blasphemy laws, led the party. He died in November last year amid the charged campaign against France. Thousands attended his funeral. Following the death, his young son, Saad Rizvi, became the head of the party.

Historically, the TLP is the first religio-political party to emerge around the issue of blasphemy. The subject is important to Barelvi Islam on account of its devotional emphasis.

The TLP, polled 2.19 million votes across the country, in the 2018 general elections. It was the sixth largest party in terms of the number of votes obtained. It was also the third largest party in terms of vote in the Punjab —where it secured more than 1.8 million votes. It fielded 178 candidates across the country. However, it won only two provincial assembly seats in Sindh.

The TLP, proved an effective spoiler against mainstream political parties’ candidates on more than a dozen constituencies across the country. Some political analysts consider the TLP support a result of political engineering by the establishment to divide the religious vote bank of the then ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN). However, the TLP has denied this impression claiming that its support is based on the religious sentiments of the majority Muslims of the country—who cannot tolerate blasphemy against their Prophet (peace be upon him).

This will force mainstream parties to board the bandwagon and play on religion for their constituency politics.

Surprisingly, the TLP has failed to show impressive performance in the by-elections later on. It secured only 4,000 to 10,000 votes in a constituency, compared to its superb performance in the general election. Especially, after a serious crackdown and lodging of criminal cases against the TLP leadership for publicly shaming military and political leadership in May 2019 for sending Asia Bibi abroad, the party appeared to diminish on the political landscape.

The latest episode, seemingly, gave a new political life to the TLP but its violent agenda appeared to be an obstacle in smooth legal and political sailing. The party is legally weakened but still has a large number of sympathisers on account of its agenda.

The government, which earlier, took a strong stand and announced a ban on the organisation has also indicated that it would not move the legal forums for the dissolution of TLP and urged the party to contest its case in the court. This indicates that the TLP might continue as a political entity subject to a lifting of the ban by the courts.

Although the electoral history of Pakistan shows that no religious party has ever secured a majority of seats in a general election, the TLP is still significant due to its religious vote bank. Historically, such parties have been able to secure a few seats through electoral alliance with mainstream political parties. In the current situation, the political future of the TLP seems bleak. However, the party may continue to have political value because of its vote bank and political alliances. It may also continue to divide the religious vote bank and dent the mainstream political parties like the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf with its solo flight.

“I support another political party but my sympathies are with the agenda of the TLP because it talks about Islam and dignity of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” says Muhammad Asgher, a street vendor in his 40s. The mainstream political parties may oppose the TLP’s extreme agenda but will have to compromise at certain levels because of the TLP’s popular vote bank. This will force these mainstream parties to board the bandwagon and play on religion for their constituency politics. In short, the TLP has triggered a trend on the political landscape that may continue many years.

The writer is a staff reporter. He can be reached at vaqargillani@gmail.com