ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri on Tuesday said that the court would decide on the matter of placing Christian blasphemy convict Aasia Bibi’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The government and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had on Friday reached an agreement after which the latter ended its three-day-long nationwide protests against the Supreme Court’s acquittal last week of Aasia Bibi who had been sentenced to death in 2010 for alleged blasphemy.
According to the agreement, the government had promised TLP to “initiate the legal process” to place Aasia Bibi’s name on the no-fly list.
When asked whether her name had been placed on the ECL, Qadri said: “If you read the agreement, you’ll see it says that legal process will be undertaken to place her on the ECL.”
“When there are cases in the Supreme Court and high court, the court itself says that so-and-so should be placed on the ECL. So we will follow that process.”
“The TLP also said that some miscreants used their platform to damage public property and had behaved inappropriately. The State will take action against them,” he added.
“We stand by the agreement, and it will be acted upon,” Qadri said.
When asked whether the TLP would be banned, the minister said that there was no plan to ban the TLP.
“However, if someone’s intentions or designs are in conflict with the national narrative and policies, then hopefully steps will be taken against them,” he added.
The minister said that the government was formulating strategies in anticipation of similar situations in the future.