Religious hardliners now step into the fray in Pakistan – warn no one will be allowed to tamper with the Constitution

<p>
<strong>Amid the political and constitutional crisis in Pakistan, the religious hardline Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has warned that no one will be allowed to tamper with the constitution of Pakistan.</strong></p>
<p>
“If the constitution of Pakistan is tampered with in any way, then the last stage will be set. We will protect the constitution of Pakistan to the last extent,” said Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, the chief of the TLP in a statement on Wednesday.</p>
<p>
The TLP chief also warned the judges of the Pakistani Supreme Court to follow the constitution which is their prime duty and declare the ruling by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly as unconstitutional. </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
Quaid-e-Millat-e-Islamia chief Tehreek-e-Labeek-e-Pakistan Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi's statement has shaken everyone from top to bottom.<br />
✊🏻🇵🇰<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A2%D8%A6%DB%8C%D9%86_%DA%A9%DB%92%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8_%D9%84%D8%A8%DB%8C%DA%A9_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%92?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#آئین_کےمحافظ_لبیک_والے</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nizam_mustafa1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nizam_mustafa1</a> <a href="https://t.co/dPvjnb2n3p">pic.twitter.com/dPvjnb2n3p</a></p>
— Abid Hussain (@dr_abid1) <a href="https://twitter.com/dr_abid1/status/1511906784667389952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>
According to media reports, after an emergency meeting “central shoora” of the TLP on Wednesday,  Rizvi warned that a conspiracy has been hatched by the Imran Khan government to impose a presidential system in Pakistan after revoking the Constitution. He demanded that the Supreme Court must probe this conspiracy and punish the guilty persons.</p>
<p>
Rizvi said that the present constitution protects Islamic values which guarantee religious, personal and political freedoms.</p>
<p>
“TLP will respond to any tampering with the Constitution in the same way as it staged a sit-in at Faizabad against amending the oath of parliamentarians and election forms,” The News quoted TLP chief Rizvi as saying.</p>
<p>
Rizvi also asserted that there is no question of forming any alliance with Imran Khan’s PTI for the forthcoming elections.</p>
<p>
“PTI, the PPP and the PMLN are responsible for the ongoing grave constitutional and political crises in Pakistan and their hands of these parties are soaked in the blood of TLP martyrs,” said Pir Zaheerul Hasan Shah, the TLP Supremo’s close confidante referring to the media reports that Imran Khan wants to form an alliance.</p>
<p>
The Party chief once again reminded the Pakistani government that the TLP is the guardian party of the honour of the prophet and will not be a silent spectator, especially as it is the intellectual heir of Imam Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqui and Mujahid-e-Millat Maulana Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi who were the co-authors of the Constitution.</p>
<p>
“We urge the judiciary to investigate whether Imran Khan is conspiring to wrap up the Constitution,” The news quoted Rizvi as saying.</p>
<p>
In the last 7 years, TLP has become one of the most powerful religious hardline groups in Pakistan, dictating terms to successive governments and paralysing the country at will with violent protests. The TLP has positioned itself as the protectors of Islam, effectively painting their foes as enemies of the religion and often they have proved that they can kill and be also killed for their cause.</p>
<p>
In the last elections in 2018, the TLP fought the elections, earning more than two million votes and two provincial seats. According to experts, Its votes have only multiplied after every protest and sit-in, and it is possible that the group may perform even better in the next elections.</p>
<p>
In its earlier protest, the party forced the law minister to resign in a military-brokered agreement that saw the TLP being virtually absolved of any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>
Rizvi exposed the group’s extremist tendencies when he  reportedly told journalists that if he took power in the nuclear-armed country he would “wipe Holland off the face of the earth”, over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published there.</p>
<p>
<strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/pakistan-s-imran-khan-signs-secret-pact-with-tlp-to-defuse-protests-125351.html">Pakistan’s Imran Khan signs secret pact with TLP to defuse protests</a></strong></p>