Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party activists run from police during a protest in support of Palestinians, in Muridke, Pakistan, on Oct. 13.
Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images
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Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan banned a hard-line Islamist party on Thursday, more than a week after heated clashes with police that left at least five people dead.
The ban follows a march by the party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), earlier this month from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital city, Islamabad. It escalated into a vicious street battle between TLP supporters and police in Lahore and the nearby city of Murdike, leading to a crackdown on the party, which has come to be known for these violent confrontations.
A statement from the office of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the ban was unanimously approved by the federal cabinet, citing “violent and terrorist activities.” The ban is the latest chapter in a complicated relationship between the Pakistani state and the TLP, which has amassed considerable grassroots support in recent years for its hard-line views, particularly on blasphemy or the denigration of Islam.
According to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, people who insult Islam or Islamic figures can face a possible death sentence. The TLP demands death as a punishment, and human rights groups say the party’s supporters sometimes carry out brutal mob lynchings even before people accused of blasphemy go on trial. Pakistan has seen a significant spike in blasphemy cases in recent years, in line with the TLP’s rise.
The TLP was officially launched as a political party…