By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Authorities have booked the vice-emir of the militant Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party in a terrorism case for allegedly inciting violence against the country’s top judge, amid a government crackdown on elements spreading religious hatred.
Pir Zaheerul Hasan Shah, TLP’s second-in-command, was named in a first information report (FIR) filed by Lahore’s Qila Gujjar Singh police under various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Pakistan Penal Code.
Around 1,500 TLP workers were also booked under the ATA and other laws for inciting religious hatred, causing public disorder, and intimidating the judiciary.
Local media reported that Shah was arrested from Okara town in Punjab.
The move comes after Shah sparked outrage with remarks at a gathering outside the Lahore Press Club, where he allegedly offered a Rs10 million bounty for violence against Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
Shah held a series of rallies last week protesting a Supreme Court verdict in the Mubarak Sani case, which was reviewed by the apex court following a plea by the Punjab government. Sani was charged under provisions of the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) Act, 2011, for an alleged crime committed in 2019.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that the provisions used to charge him were enacted in 2021, two years after the alleged offence.
Sani is a member of the minority Ahmadi community. Ahmadis, a group that originated in British-controlled India in the 19th century who see themselves as an Islamic movement, are regarded as heretical by orthodox Muslims and forbidden from calling themselves Muslims or using Islamic symbols in their religious practices. They face discrimination and violence over accusations their faith insults Islam.
In February this year, hundreds of supporters from religious groups led by the TLP rallied to protest against what they said were blasphemous remarks by Isa in the Sani case. Following the protests, the Supreme Court had released a statement calling the “impression” of blasphemy “absolutely wrong” and deploring the “vicious campaign” against Isa.
The ruling coalition condemned the remarks against the top judge and vowed to take strict action against “those spreading lies about him”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif condemned the remarks, saying, “Elements with vested political interests are spreading blood and violence in the name of religion… The state will not allow anyone to issue a fatwa to kill someone.”
“I think there isn’t a bigger [example] of contempt of religion than to issue such statements in the name of a religion [Islam] which is one of mercy and blessings,” Asif told reporters at a news conference.
Asif added that the government would use the full force of the law to bring perpetrators to justice.
“The state will take action over it because this is all based on lies … The state will not accept dictation from any group in the name of religion, politics or someone’s self-interests.”
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal described Shah’s actions as “open rebellion against Pakistan’s Constitution” and warned that allowing such groups to issue death threats would lead to “the country being bathed in fire and blood”.
“Pakistan has its courts, it has its law, and no person or group is allowed to issue fatwas [religious rulings] for anyone’s murder,” he said. “Because the right to reward or punish rests with the judiciary in a state.”
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