Pakistan PM Imran Khan to address nation on TLP matter
Oct 29, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan] October 29 : Amid the ongoing protest by the banned Islamist group Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Prime Minister Imran Khan is slated to address the country on Saturday or the day after, a top government official informed.
"Imran Khan will explain the government and state's narrative on the TLP protests and take citizens into confidence," Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said on Friday, Samaa TV reported.
Rasheed also said that there has been no headway in the negotiations between the government and the banned terrorist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan.
At a press conference after the National Security Council meeting in Islamabad, the minister said that it is plausible that talks between the two groups will resume by Friday evening.
Rasheed also revealed that TLP workers promised to reopen the GT Road and head back home.
"We are still waiting for them to keep their word," the Interior Minister was quoted as saying by Samaa TV. Meanwhile, thousands of marchers are heading towards Wazirabad.
This statement follows several days of unsuccessful negotiations between the TLP and the Imran Khan government. In the past few days, several clashes have been reported including one outside Lahore, after TLP tried to resume its march on Islamabad to pressurise the government to accept its demands.
At least four policemen were killed and over 250 injured during the clashes on Wednesday. During a press conference, Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday had said the government has decided that the TLP would no more be dealt with as a political party but as a militant organisation.
Earlier, the interior minister had said that the government did not have any "reservations" on the TLP's demands and there was agreement on all issues discussed with the group -- except for the matter of the French ambassador's expulsion.
Hundreds of TLP workers had taken to the streets throughout the country last week to exert pressure on the government for the release of its chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi.
