RAWALPINDI / TOBA TEK SINGH /SAHIWAL: Thirty-one activists of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), including the administrator of a madressah and a district emir of the party, were booked under sections of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in three cities of Punjab for inciting violence and planning protests against Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

In Rawalpindi, a case was registered by the Airport Police Station against 28 people on the report of the Sub-Inspector Ijaz Hussain Ghuman. In the FIR, the officer said he was on night patrol on the High Court Road when he received information that some people were gathering at the Jamia Ziaul Aloom in Eastridge Housing Society run by Syed Inayatul Haq Sultanpuri.

The report alleged that the suspects, including Mufti Umair, Dr Shafiq Amin, Allama Muhammad Shafiq Qadri, Chaudhry Rizwan Ahmad Safi, Pir Syed Irfan Hameed Shah, Allama Rub Nawaz Farooqi and Advocate Chaudhry Taimoor, were planning to stage protests and processions against the CJP across the country.

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The FIR further alleged that the suspects made speeches against the top judge of the country, spread religious hatred and hatched criminal conspiracy.

The complainant said that a detective foot constable (DFC), Amir Hameed, who was also sitting among the participants in civvies confirmed the meeting and presence of students in the madrassah. A group of students boarded pick-up trucks, land cruisers, rickshaws and motorcycles and appeared near the high court building where they blocked the road for traffic.

About 15 to 20 protesters in uniform were carrying weapons. However, the police managed to restore the traffic. No arrests have been made in the case so far.

In Toba Tek Singh, an FIR was registered on a complaint of Inspector Muhammad Yasin under sections of ATA and PPC against TLP Toba emir Mohsin Raza who led a rally of 60 TLP activists outside the district press club on the Jhang Road on July 28 and incited violence against the CJP.

Police continued conducting raids to arrest Raza in his hometown of Gojra but in vain. There are reports that police arrested some of his relatives to put pressure on the family to hand him over.

Saddar police of Pakpattan and Dera Rahim police of district Sahiwal also booked two persons in separate cases for supporting TLP vice-emir Syed Zaheerul Hasan who had issued threats to the CJ. Police claimed both the suspects had also incited violence against the CJP.

Pakpattan police booked Abdur Rehman, a resident of Abadi Aslamabad, and Sahiwal police registered a case against Muhammad Ijaz Rizvi, a resident of Chak 143/9-L, tehsil Chicha­watni, on the complaint of police inspectors.

The TLP has held a series of gatherings in various parts of the country against the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Mubarak Sani case, which was recently reviewed by the court in light of a plea filed by the Punjab government.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024