HYDERABAD: Police rounded up over a dozen activists of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, including the outfit’s district emir, and used tear gas and batons to break up their march when they tried to walk towards the venue designated for Rawadari March outside local press club on Saturday.

The TLP had announced protest against the march, which they saw as supportive of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar, who was accused of blasphemy and allegedly killed in a staged encounter, as well as against the administration for allowing the gathering.

Police had sealed off since morning all the streets connected with Miran Mohammad Shah road where Hyderabad Press Club was located, and a large number of policemen in full anti-riot gear were deployed around it.

When TLP activists gathered outside deputy commissioner’s house near civil courts building and tried to proceed towards Miran Mohammad Shah road, a heavy police contingent used batons and tear gas to stop them and caught a dozen of workers to break up the protest.

Another police contingent was deployed at Society Chowk near the press club to stop the activists who might try to use that point to reach the press club.

TLP activist Salahuddin Ghouri told journalists that the party’s district emir Zeeshan Rabbani, Hafiz Naveed, Allama Zohaib, Hafiz Said and others were picked up by police and shifted to undisclosed location. Police had allowed Rawadari march but forcefully stopped TLP from holding the protest, he said.

“We did take an undertaking from the organisers of Rawadari march, which said that that they won’t violate certain things including raising slogans against blasphemy laws, and that they’ll not do anything that may hurt sentiments of any group,” said SSP Dr Farrukh Ali.

“Similarly, we asked local TLP leadership to put back their protest to some other day [though they may hold it] at the same location but they shouldn’t insist on staging the protest just to counter a pre-announced rally as it can lead to law and order situation,” he said. Therefore, he said, police made elaborate security arrangements to preempt possibility of any trouble.

TLP leaders’ press conference

Local TLP leaders Suleman Sarwari, Hafiz Sajid and Hafiz Mohammad Yasin said at a hurriedly-called news conference that police had rounded up over a dozen activists and leaders of the party and raided residences of many others to intimidate them.

The party had announced staging the protest on Nov 23 and applied to the administration in this regard in writing, still they were stopped, they said.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024