Several leaders and ticket holders of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) from central Punjab and Lahore announced they were cutting ties with the banned organisation. They said they now stand firmly with the Pakistani state.
The announcement came during a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday. The leaders said the TLP’s actions had turned anti-state and could no longer be justified in the name of religion or politics.
Barrister Usman Khizr Mangat, speaking for the group, said politics must always remain within the framework of the Constitution. “You can do politics within the state, not against it,” he said. “Violence and mob pressure cannot change the state’s policies.”
He added that the government made several attempts to hold talks with the group, but the TLP’s demands were unreasonable. “The state acted with patience, but these people refused to understand Pakistan’s internal and external situation,” Mangat said.
He condemned the violent protests that had damaged public property and disrupted normal life. “We saw buses being stolen, school vans carrying girls being stopped, and people being threatened,” he said. “This is not politics; this is chaos.
