Pakistan’s Interior Ministry on Thursday issued an official notification banning the radical group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a day after the federal cabinet approved the move.
The decision comes in the wake of violent protests in Lahore and Islamabad that left several people dead and many injured.
TLP, a far-right Islamist populist party founded by cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi in 2015, has long been known for its hardline stance on blasphemy laws and street agitation.
Now led by Saad Hussain Rizvi, the radical party rose to prominence as the fourth-largest political party in the 2024 general election.
Once believed to enjoy tacit backing from Pakistan’s military establishment, TLP’s relationship with authorities soured after it led violent demonstrations against the government’s endorsement of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal.
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