Daily Times

The Judicial remand of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) chief, Khadim Hussain Rizvi was extended till the 16^th of March by the anti-terrorism court (ATC) along with 16 other accused.

A case was registered against Khadim Hussain Rizvi for hate speech and for spreading violence in the country during the three-day protests when Asia Bibi was released in a blasphemy case. The case against the TLP’s chief was registered on charges of sedition and terrorism.

Along with the chief of TLP, ATC-IV extended the remand for the seven suspects, including Pir Afzal Qadri, Pir Ejaz Ashrafi, Farooqul Hasan, Shafqat Jamil, Waheed Noor and Syed Zaheer ul Hassan Shah. All the suspects were brought to the court under tight security. Murtaza Ali Peerzada, Nasir Minhas and Tahir Minhas are the lawyers of accused and were present at the court.

There was a crackdown against all TLP workers in which Rizvi was taken into custody on Nov 23, 2018. This clean-up started after TLP arranged widespread protests all over the country. TLP workers along with the workers of other religious parties blocked the roads and destroyed vehicles making the situation worse.

Rizvi was seen making statements that disgruntled the minorities in the country. At one time Khadim Hussain Rizvi had even said that “Pakistan was not made for Ahmadis, Christians, Jews or Buddhists.”  He also said, ”keeping good ties with Hindus is equal to going to the latrine and sniffing musk there”.

To avoid such incidents from happening in the future, the court increased the security force.