A dangerous path for Pakistan

On the face of it, the Imran Khan government’s outreach to the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right extremist group, appears to be a step in the right direction. After all, dialogue is the preferable way to deal with radical groups. It could provide them with political means to air their grievances, help to bring them into the political mainstream, and get them to moderate their views. What is deeply problematic, however, is the deal-making that the Pakistan government has engaged in to bring the TLP to the talks. A Barelvi group that projects itself as the guardian of Prophet Muhammad’s honour and the custodian of Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy laws, the TLP has been using street power to pressure the government to concede its demands. And successive governments have routinely gone down on their knees to appease it, conceding the TLP’s often atrocious demands in clandestine deals. Thus, the TLP has come out stronger from every protest. Ad-hoc responses have been the government’s way of handling the TLP. In April, it proscribed the TLP, and it has now lifted the ban. What was the purpose of the ban?

Although the TLP has engaged in what can be described as terrorist violence, it has functioned as a political party. It has contested elections and has done well. It won seats to the Sind Assembly in 2018, for instance. In April, it contested a by-election to the National Assembly and although it did not win, it came in third after the PML-N and the PPP. Importantly, it secured more votes than the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Incidentally, this by-election was held less than a fortnight after the TLP was banned. That a ‘terrorist’ organisation was allowed to contest elections and secured more votes than the ruling party, shows the dismal state of Pakistan and its polity.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan is playing a dangerous game. The TLP is not an organisation that can be domesticated through talks or elections. This is a hardline group that uses terror and intimidation. By allowing such a group to gain legitimacy through talks, Khan is treading a perilous path. His is a short-term strategy that aims at getting the TLP off the streets. In all likelihood, rather than domesticating an extremist outfit, Imran Khan will end up radicalising Pakistani politics. The Pakistan military is said to have midwifed the deal with the TLP. This cannot be good for the future of Pakistan and its democracy. Khan must come clean on the details of the deal he has done with the TLP. Other extremist outfits could also look to take the TLP route to legitimacy.