LAHORE: The Punjab government has launched an extensive operation to “neutralise” the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), following violent incidents linked to the group in Muridke and other parts of the province. The move marks one of the most decisive actions yet against the hardline religious outfit, which officials say has repeatedly targeted law enforcement and religious minorities since its inception.
According to officials familiar with the development, the decision emerged from a series of high-level meetings where the TLP’s record of violent protests, attacks on police, and desecration of Christian and Ahmadiyya places of worship was reviewed in detail.
The crackdown has led to the registration of at least 72 criminal cases across Punjab, including 39 in Lahore, with numerous arrests of the group’s second- and third-tier leaders. Police sources described it as the largest number of cases ever registered against the TLP in recent years.
Senior police officials revealed that the provincial leadership has resolved to confine the TLP strictly to political activities, stripping it of the capacity to “blackmail the state” through violence or threats of agitation.
Authorities were briefed that TLP activists had attacked over 25 churches and other religious sites across Punjab during the last three years, leaving several people dead and dozens injured.
Police data shows that over 2,700 individuals have been arrested in the ongoing crackdown, including 251 from Lahore and significant numbers from Sheikhupura, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, and Sialkot. In Vehari, police detained 25 activists and booked over 300 others on terrorism charges, while in Dera Ghazi Khan, TLP members reportedly stormed a riverine police post before fleeing.
Meanwhile, TLP chief Saad Rizvi remains at large after allegedly escaping during the Muridke operation. Police claim to have traced his whereabouts, while a money laundering probe has been initiated following the recovery of large sums of cash from his Lahore residence.
