TLP leader calls for de-escalation, says will leave party if violence continues

• If TLP chief Saad Rizvi refuses to negotiate with government, I will leave the party, party's Sindh chief Ameer Razi Hussaini says.
• The protests, wherever they might be taking place, should be stopped, he urges.
• Issues must be resolved through dialogue and not through agitation on the streets, he stresses.

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Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Sindh chief Ameer Razi Hussaini said Thursday if the party's central leadership does not resolve matters through talks with the government, then he will leave the party.

Hussaini, in a video statement, said: "If [TLP chief] Saad Rizvi does not give up his stubbornness and refuses to negotiate, I will leave the party. Issues must be resolved through dialogue and not [through agitation] on the streets."

The party's Sindh chief said the protests, wherever they might be taking place, should be stopped. "Several innocent lives have been lost due to the violence that took place in the country."

Hussaini said if TLP is unable to resolve the matters through dialogue, the nation will be disappointed in party chief Saad Rizvi.

Following a three-day protest staged by TLP in the country which led to the killing of three people, including two policemen, the Federal Ministry of Interior issued a detailed report related to arrests made in this regard.

Some 2,135 protesters have been arrested from across the country, out of which 1,669 were from Punjab and 228 were from Sindh, according to the report of the Interior Ministry.

The report further detailed that 193 people were arrested from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while 45 were taken into custody from the federal capital of Islamabad.

The government has registered cases against the protesters under the country's anti-terrorism laws for creating chaos, vandalising public and private properties, and beating up and killing of police personnel. Nearly 100 policemen were left injured during clashes with the protesters.

TLP banned

In a major development earlier in the day, the federal government issued a notification for banning TLP, saying it engaged in terrorism, acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, and caused grievous bodily harm.

"Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 11B(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the Federal Government is pleased to list Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan in the First Schedule to the said Act as a proscribed organisation for the purposes of the said Act," the notification added.

TLP had 'dangerous intentions' for Pakistan

Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, while addressing a press conference prior to the notification's issuance, had said the religious party had "dangerous" designs when it held the protests.

"They were adamant on coming [to the Faizabad Interchange] for the fourth time," he said, referring to the religious party's supporters. "This is why we took decisions to prevent that."

Rasheed said the violence was unfortunate as the government was willing to negotiate with protesters. He said the government had not backed away from its promise to present a resolution of the religious party's demands in Parliament.

"We got to know during the negotiations that they [religious party] were planning a march on April 20," he said, adding that the reaction from the party after the arrest of a leader could not be justified.