The recent protests by Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, and the banning of the outfit, is being reduced to a political fight. However, as always the reality is a whole lot more nuanced and complicated than that.
The dangers TLP holds for Pakistan go beyond the tenure of PTI. TLP is a result of decades of terrible policy decisions; it is not just a political party, it is a 'soch' that fundamentally challenges Pakistan.
To truly understand TLP, you have to understand all the factors that led us to where we stand today.
1. The Jihad Narrative: Promotion of militancy
The argument presented for Pakistan to be a militant state is India; the existence of a mighty enemy to the east. There is truth to that when you argue for the broader cooption of the Jihad narrative i.e. Jihad being used to raise troops, create militant groups in Kashmir and rally the nation behind the military.
But in the past few decades the move towards Jihad has been dictated by the West. Pakistan helped the United States during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Our leaders received money to promote Jihad in Pakistan. They created the Taliban.
Years later our leaders again received money from the United States, this time to fight the Taliban. The leaders became rich as millions of lives were lost to terrorism in Pakistan.
Pakistan and Pakistanis were used as collateral as those who supported the wars got rich and fled the country. We had to face the consequences of their poor decisions with a decade of terrorism.
2. Pakistan ka Matlab Kya: Promotion of Religious Extremism
There were extremist elements present throughout the history of the sub-continent but nobody mainstreamed extremism as much as Zia-ul-Haq. A dictator who needed the most extreme form of religion to justify his autocratic rule. A man who promised elections in 90 days and ended up ruling for a decade.
Because Zia-ul-Haq was a military dictator, we are not allowed to have an honest conversation about the damage he has done. We cannot teach children about his disastrous policies and because they were done under the guise of 'Islam', we cannot challenge them without being labelled an infidel.
3. Sadiq and Ameen: Politicization of Religion
Different political parties have used the model set by Zia to justify their rules. PML-N has repeatedly courted the supporter of Sipah-e-Sahiba, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto declared Ahmadis Non-Muslims, PTI supported TLP, PTI funded Sami-ul-Haq's Madrassa, political leaders of all parties have visited Mumtaz Qadri's shrine.
Even when the posturing is not that overt, Political Parties have always used religion for their personal benefits. PTI used blasphemy as an excuse to try and oust the PML-N Government. Nawaz Sharif was removed for not being 'Sadiq and Ameen'.
Jamiat only rose to prominence due to the Ahmadi issue. Did they genuinely believe in the cause or used it for their own political relevancy?
4. Ek Hazaar: Political Engineering
Political parties have been created, splintered, and armed, to bring down democratically elected Governments repeatedly.
TLP was created specifically to break the vote bank of PML-N in Punjab. Political leaders and Journalists speaking out against it now were the ones whole heartedly supporting them.
Was ousting Nawaz Sharif so important that you created an organization that you need to ban because you can't control it?
5. Labaik: Weaponization of Ishq-e-Rasool(SAW)
People are arguing that TLP will simply rebrand itself as we have seen other banned organizations do. I disagree. TLP has a winning formula; they have a monopoly over Ishq-e-Rasool(SAW).
Can any self-respecting Muslim argue against Ishq-e-Rasool(SAW)?
TLP has the nation in a conundrum, it is almost blasphemous to argue against the TLP agenda. It is the most extreme form of the monster Zia created.
We might look at cars being burnt down and think to ourselves, obviously these are terrorists but for anybody who seems them as Aashiq-e-Rasool(SAW), all these actions are justified because they are being done in the name of Ishq.
TLP does not consist of extremism Muslims only. It has working class individuals. It has bureaucrats. It has young men without beards. It has people from all strata of society because they have claimed a monopoly over the love for the Prophet(Saw), and have weaponized it.
Arafat Mazhar on the podcast does a great job articulating why as an Aashiq-e-Rasool(SAW), you should be the most offended that they are misrepresenting to you. Ishq should be about following Sunnat - living with love, helping the poor, being kind, being a source of Good in the world but sadly we only hear about Ishq-e-Rasool(SAW) in terms of violence, and TLP currently holds the monopoly over that violence. It is up to all Muslims to show the world that we are better than that.
6. OYE _ _ _ _ _ _ : Khadim and the Barelvi Factor
Most Pakistanis are Barelvi but other sects were promoted over them due to the political interests of our leaders.
We took money from the Arab countries to promote Wahabism, we took money from the USA to promote more Jihadi sects, and all this was done at the expense of the Barelvis.
Barelvi Madrassas were handed over to other sects, they were promoted more, and one day or the other, the besieged majority was going to fight back.
Khadim Rizvi became that charismatic leader they could all rally behind. Social Media put kerosene on that fire and made him the most popular Islamic leader in the country.
The entire sect could now rally behind one guy, Mumtaz Qadri gave them an incident to get together around, and Labaik gave them a voice.
7. Poverty
Even if you look at the demands from the protestors at the Mumtaz Qadri protest, you would see that some of them are simply economic.
If the state truly cared about its people, gave them schools, universities, hospitals and jobs, then so many of our children would not be forced into terrorism.
Maulana Abdul Aziz admitted they would take children from Kashmir whose parents could not afford to keep them to Lal Masjid and indoctrinate them. Not all Madrassas do this but Madrassas that are designed to build extremists take children that the state has abandoned and brainwash them.
Even with Mumtaz Qadri, how much of the hate he had for Salman Taseer was because Salman Taseer thought Asia Bibi was innocent, and how much of it because he stood as a guard next to him day in and day out, watching all the elites?
Without economic upliftment, we will continue seeing millions of Pakistanis being exploited in the name of religion. There will still be extremism even with economic upliftment, the rich in Pakistan are even more extremist than the poor, but hopefully there will be less economic driven terrorism.
8. Destruction of the Police
The Police is at the forefront of everything in Pakistan, they are our first line of defense but they are treated terribly.
Granted, that monsters like Rao Anwar exist, a lot of Policemen are corrupt, and most of us have had bad experiences dealing with the Police but none of that means we do not respect the institution.
People with privilege in Pakistan live like none of the rules apply to them. It is impossible to survive, or get promoted, in the Police without 'compromising' on your values.
You can never maintain law and order with such a weak institution. They are sent to be killed for the political interests of those at the top.
Every single political leader should have been at the funeral of those two policemen as a show of support but all that will happen is some money will be given to their family and the next time the Police will similarly be treated as pawns.
9. The Current Government
You cannot use TLP to come to power, use their slogans, their language, promote their ideology then turn around and ban them without facing repurcussions.
The Interior Minister, Shaikh Rasheed, vocally supported TLP. PTI has repeatedly used blasphemy, Islamophobia, Love of the Prophet(SAW), Islam, Riyasat-e-Madina, to legitmize their rule.
If that is what you are promising, why are you surprised that people are on the streets asking you to live up to your words?
10. Pandemic and Mental Health
We are seeing a rise of protest movements around the world because the pandemic has destroyed the mental health of people.
People have lost loved ones, they have lost jobs, inflation is insane in Pakistan, people are simply frustrated and are looking for an outlet.
We are also seeing an increase in crime, suicide, shootings, homicide, Governments around the world have simply failed to protect its citizens, and there are people who just want to burn it all down to show their frustrations.
How much of the support PDM got was support for PMLN, JUI-F, PPP and how much of it was people simply protesting inflation?
Our Government is celebrating its 'victory' over Covid-19 too soon, India is being crushed by a second wave, all our well wishes go to them and hope the Indian Government is able to get a hold of the Covid crisis there soon, our love and support to all those who are struggling - India should be a cautionary tale for Pakistan, if we continue holding mass gatherings, weddings, festivals and rallies, then God forbid our hospitals will look the same too.
Solutions:
There are no immediate solutions to this problem, I am not sure banning them will help a lot. I am not one to criticize the current Government for it because they had no good options but without long term re-building efforts, this ban will be fruitless.
Education is your biggest solution - educate people. We notice when TLP burns down the streets but we do not notice when JI changes the syllabus in KPK to make it more 'Islamic'.
Reown Ishq-e-Rasool(SAW) - I disagree with the extremist solution that to win we have to eradicate religion, it will not happen, you need to reown it, take it away from those who tell you that Islam is about terrorism, show people that it is about love.
Uplift people economically, control inflation, reduce class stratification, use money on hospitals and schools instead of guns, stop political engineering, stop creating militant groups, stop supporting militancy, stop the use of religion for short-term political gain, and hopefully maybe a decade or two from now, we will truly have a Naya Pakistan.
For now, as much as you try to deny it, it is TLP's Pakistan, and we are simply living in it, for now.
By: Shehzad Ghias Shaikh
