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LAHORE: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Thursday asserted that chief of banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Saad Rizvi, had insisted on the closure of the French embassy in his talks with government.
“I have made signatures on the previous agreement, inked between government and proscribed organisation, and I am steadfast on this,” the Interior Minister said while addressing a ceremony in Lahore.
Apparently referring to Mufti Muneebur Rehman, Rashid said, “Contrary to what one person, who is a major religious figure, said, when I spoke with Saad Rizvi, he was insistent on the closure of the French embassy and he was convinced that this issue be brought in the National Assembly.”
Responding to a question, the interior minister said he had received instructions from Prime Minister Imran Khan that “it is better if one minister speaks on the TLP issue”.
Earlier on Monday, Mufti Muneebur Rehman dispelled the impression that the TLP had demanded the expulsion of the French ambassador and the closure of the embassy. He was among the clerics who had facilitated talks between the government and the proscribed group.
Speaking a day after the government announced the agreement, the religious cleric said, “Lies were spoken on television about the talks [with the TLP], that they had demanded the expulsion of the French envoy and to break ties with the European Union. This was a blatant lie.”
“How can trust be established when government officials speak lies publicly?” he asked, adding that those who participated in the negotiations did not have personal agendas, calling the whole process a “marathon intellectual exercise”.
Earlier, a statement issued by the group’s central committee on October 27 had called upon the government to fulfil its agreement of expelling the French ambassador. TLP leader Syed Sarwar Shah Saifi had said that France had committed blasphemy at the government level and the TLP thus expected an official response from the incumbent government.
Mufti Muneeb’s comments had also contradicted what Rashid had said on Oct 26 regarding talks with the group. The interior minister had said the government had “no reservations” on any of the demands put forward by the TLP except for the shutting down of the French embassy and expulsion of the French ambassador.
The TLP had launched the latest round of protests in Lahore on the 12th of Rabiul Awwal, primarily to exert pressure on the Punjab government for the release of its chief, Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, the son of its late founder Khadim Rizvi.
The younger Rizvi has been kept in detention by the Punjab government since April 12 for “maintenance of public order”. However, TLP leader Pir Ajmal Qadri had later said the purpose of the move was “respect for the Holy Prophet (PBUH)”, while also demanding Rizvi’s release.
