The things Pakistan does can never cease to amaze. Even as it is being pressured by the Americans to be part of the Abraham Accords that basically will lead to recognition of Israel, a well-known Pakistani tool has been set out on the streets, with huge protests in support of Gaza. Apparently, no one told them that the area is finally heading towards peace and that everyone in Gaza is praying for an end to war. The group in focus is the Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). It's been out on the streets earlier, too, with decidedly convenient results for the Pakistan army.
A Newbie
The TLP rose to the limelight suddenly in 2017 during protests against the then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif's, who had angered the army with, among other things, an effort to repair relations with India. The issue spilt over even after Sharif was forced out. The group came pouring on to the streets demanding a minor change in the wording of the Election Act 2017, which allegedly weakened the constitutional declaration of belief in the finality of Prophet Muhammad's prophethood. Led by Barelvi leader Khadim Rizvi, thousands of TLP supporters launched a sit-in at Islamabad's Faizabad interchange, which rapidly turned violent, leading to the total caving in of the government, including the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid. This heralded the arrival of the erstwhile lowly government employee as a leader of this sect, even as the image of a Major General handing out PKR 1,000 to the protestors went viral.
That was November 2017. In the 2018 elections, the TLP, with a suspiciously large purse for such a recent party, contested across the country, playing spoiler to Nawaz Sharif's party in Punjab. The army backed Imran Khan, long a sympathiser to TLP's politics, and he swept to power. But it seemed the TLP's power had gone to its head. In 2020, it launched protests to close the French Embassy over some 'cartoons' of the Prophet in a French newspaper, much to the embarrassment of the Imran Khan government. Mysteriously, Khadim died in the middle of the protests, and the group was banned, though the ban was lifted just six months later in a 'secret agreement with the then army chief, General Bajwa. The reasons for the secrecy were soon clear, as under the son, Saad Rizvi, the TLP was again on the streets in March 2022 as Imran Khan fell foul of the army.
The massive protests did their magic. Khan was out a month later. In 2023, the TLP was readied for election with all restrictions lifted and allowed to register as a political party. In the 2024 elections, it actually lost its vote share, but that didn't really clip its wings. In fact, by 2025, it seems to have trebled itself.
A Lead Role In West Asia Comes With A Price
The background to the latest sudden violence in the streets has to do with the adventurism of Field Marshal Asim Munir and the pliant Prime Minister. Munir's wooing of Washington was all very well, but it seemed that the mysterious and very private lunch with President Trump had a price. Reports soon indicated that Pakistan would be part of the Abraham Accords that hinged on the recognition of Israel came into a rapidly changing Middle East situation. It also seemed that there was an additional reward, as Pakistan also signed a "Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement' on September 15 with Saudi Arabia, and seemed willing to open it to other countries. Trump declared that Sharif had endorsed the peace plan that virtually ended Hamas as a force with its attendant results. It seemed Pakistan was being propped up as a leader of the Islamic world, provided it also took the lead in recognising Israel.
That lit the fire. No sooner the news broke out than the Pakistani Parliament was up in arms against it, with the Jamaat-e-Islami leading the charge. Pakistani leaders quickly walked back on the claims, but the damage was done.
TLP Comes Out In Force
Within days, the TLP gathered itself and was out on the streets over the Gaza issue, its power magically restored, as much of Pakistan came to grinding halt. More than a hundred policemen were injured and hundreds of vehicles were torched as the mob rampaged through at least three major cities. An irate police force pointed out that given that the Palestinians actually welcomed the peace talks and that Muslims in Gaza were celebrating, the protests made no sense. The TLP announced its intention to camp out at Muridke, indicating they have no intention of leaving. There is no clarity from TLP on exactly what they want, but the whole spectacle is being covered well by the western media, which has exactly the effect the establishment was aiming for: easing American pressure. This time, however, it seems the TLP protests have gone out of control, essentially because the Punjab police have had enough of the army games and are hitting back. That is a dangerous internal divide. Expect more of this as the protests roll on.
The Deep State, Again
It's amazing that the TLP was originally - at least in western narratives - seen as an alternative to al-Qaeda and the rest, under a false belief that the Barelvis were a peaceful force, inclined to Sufism. That was a post-9/11 narrative, and today it has run its course. The reality is that it is the Pakistani deep state that keeps sponsoring one group after another, even as it is forced to put its other groups, like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, under wraps for the time being.
The odd thing here is that a walk-back now by the establishment to any commitment to recognising Israel will backfire on its aspiring role in West Asia, which is being bequeathed upon it by none other than President Trump. No one in the region has time any more for the Palestine issue to fester. Either Pakistan joins the shift, or it gets left out. If Rawalpindi thinks it can have the cake and eat it too by praising Trump and then pleading internal 'instability' to sign on to the Gaza plan, it had better think again. A transactional President has no time for the likes of TLP and its machinations. Either sign up or sign out.
(The author is a former director of the National Security Council Secreteriat)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
