ISLAMABAD: In a deal – that had been kept a secret until now – between the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and the federal government, it has been decided to release more than 2,000 arrested workers of the banned political party. Both sides have also finally revealed that the TLP will be allowed to contest the elections.
Reuters has reported that the TLP, in return, has decided to withdraw its demand of expelling the French ambassador from the country apart from putting an end to its practice of violent protests and politics.
The TLP was banned and declared a militant outfit earlier this year by the government. The TLP has, time and again, resorted to violent means to have their demands accepted by the subsequent governments over the years.
It has also been decided that the government would not object to the release of the TLP chief, Saad Rizvi, who remains arrested and awaits his release from the jail after signing a deal with the government.
According to reports in the local media, the federal government has admitted that the proscribed TLP is neither a banned political party nor a militant group. Therefore, the federal government would remove the name of the TLP from the list of the terrorist organisations and would allow it to contest the upcoming elections.
The two sides had kept mum about the deal until now, fearing the backlash the government might receive from the Opposition quarters.
