- Fawad says ‘miscreants will be dealt with iron hand’, govt will fully implement NAP
ISLAMABAD: A day after the government decided to book Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leadership under sedition and terrorism charges, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday said that the government won’t compromise on its writ and will take “indiscriminate action” against all those who would violate constitution.
Talking to a private news channel, the minister said that the government would deal with all the “miscreants and extremists in the country with an iron hand”.
He said that all political parties have a consensus on the National Action Plan (NAP), but unfortunately the previous government had failed to fully implement it. However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will implement the NAP, he added.
Responding to a question, Fawad said the action against the TLP was taken after collection of evidence and added the government had taken all the religious scholars and ulema on board, who had shown their support.
A case was registered against TLP a week after the police had taken its chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi and other top TLP leaders into “protective custody” on November 23, after they refused to withdraw a call for yet another protest in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on November 25.
Rizvi was arrested in a joint operation by the Lahore Police, Elite Force and Dolphin Force at the Yateem Khana Rehmatallil Alameen Mosque after an approval by the federal cabinet.
On October 31, TLP led widespread protests which erupted in the major cities after the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman on death row since 2010 when she was convicted on blasphemy charges. The protests lasted for three days and paralysed routine life in several parts of the country.
Rizvi and his fellow party leaders also passed incendiary remarks against the superior judiciary and Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as provoking the military to stage a mutiny against Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Despite PM Khan’s stern warning to the TLP leaders against challenging the State’s writ, the PTI government reached a five-point agreement with the protesters on November 3.
Responding to another question, the minister said that the government had constituted a committee to formulate a uniform curriculum for all the private and public educational institutions as well as seminaries of the country.
