Imran Khan-led government on Sunday revoked banned outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP's) proscribed status and removed the group's name from the First Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
The approval was granted by the Ministry of Interior. According to a notification by the Ministry of Interior on Sunday: "The provincial cabinet has considered the request of the organisation and in view of the assurance and commitment by the organisation, is of the opinion that the said organisation shall abide by the Constitution and laws of the country and therefore, keeping in view the larger national interest and long term perspective to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, the government of Punjab has proposed to the federal government to consider revoking of the proscription of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan," reported Geo News.
The notice goes on to state that "in the exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 11U of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (as amended), the federal government is pleased to remove the name of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan from the First Schedule of the said Act as a proscribed organisation for the purposes of the said Act".
TLP was placed in the First Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act in April 2021 on the recommendation of the Punjab home department.
On November 4, Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar granted the initial approval to the summary sent to him by the Punjab home department for the revocation of the TLP's proscribed status, reported Geo News.
Meanwhile, in compliance with a secretive deal between the government and the proscribed TLP, the Punjab government decided to remove the names of at least 90 activists of the proscribed outfit from the fourth schedule.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Law Minister Punjab Raja Basharat in Lahore.
The meeting also decided to release 100 other activists of the organisation from different jails in the province and reviewed the decisions taken by the steering committee formed to deal with all TLP-related matters, reported Geo News.
In addition, on November 2, the government began implementing the accord with TLP, with reports suggesting that it had released more than 800 supporters of the party arrested across Punjab.
The government signed an accord with the proscribed outfit last Sunday, under which workers of the organisation who are not facing any formal criminal charges were to be released. The amnesty will also extend to the party's top leader, Saad Rizvi.
( With inputs from ANI )
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