Pak police resent Imran Khan govt decision to release Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan workers
Oct 26, 2021
Lahore [Pakistan], October 26 : As the Imran Khan government announced the release of hundreds of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) workers and withdrawal of cases against others, police in Pakistan's Punjab province resented the federal government's decision to go soft on the proscribed TLP, reported local media.
Police personnel lost lives and were wounded while performing duties during violent protests by the TLP, said sources in the department, adding, each time the government reconciled with the group, it disregarded how police have been attacked and injured with petrol bombs, clubs and bricks, police vehicles were set on fire, weapons and other gear were snatched, according to Dawn.
All the cases against the TLP protesters will be dropped by Wednesday, said Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad on Sunday after hundreds of TLP workers took to the streets throughout the country to exert pressure on the government for the release of its chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi.
The announcement was made after an eight-hour-long meeting between the arrested Saad Rizvi and the Imran Khan government, ARY News reported.
Rasheed also emphasised that the ban on TLP will also be reviewed in the days to come.
Blaming the ruling elite for pushing the police against the wall, a dejected deputy inspector general-rank officer, said: " The government would have to stand with either the law enforcers or the TLP. Its decision to release hundreds of TLP men under an immediate agreement has ignored the sacrifices policemen rendered and lives they lost during violent agitation of the organisation."
Punjab police registered 40 cases against top leaders and activists of the TLP since Sunday under terrorism and multiple other charges.