Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan's Violent Pro-Palestine Long March And Mysterious Disappearance of Saad Rizvi

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 14 October 2025 Hundreds were reportedly killed in police crackdown Main Points: 1. Saad Rizvi was reportedly shot and injured. 2. Saad Rizvi's brother Anas Rizvi was also reportedly missing. 3. Tehreek-e-Labbaik staged a long march to the US embassy, Islamabad. 4. The police fired on protesters. 5. Timing of the long march has been questioned. ----- Currently, the Pakistan police and security forces have been firing on all cylinders and running amok like a mad elephant. It has force and 'operation' as the only solution to all its problems. It has been fighting the Baloch rebels in Balochistan and the TTP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for months without any results. Since the 9th October, it has been engaged in a war with Afghanistan over the TTP. Now, it has launched another operation against the extremist group Tehreek -e-Labbaik Pakistan and killed hundreds of its supporters who were taking part in a Long March from Lahore to Islamabad. The group staged protests in solidarity with the Palestinians on 9 October in Lahore and announced a Long March to Islamabad to submit a memorandum to the US embassy. The Punjab police had talks with the TLP which did not yield any results. On 11 October, they marched towards Islamabad and set camps in Muridke. The police put up shipping containers to obstruct their March but the protesters insisted on continuing their march to the US embassy. In Muridke, the protesters clashed with the police, The protesters hurled petrol bombs and other explosives against the police and the police fired tear gas shells and bullets at the protests. A mayhem ensued and the head of TLP, Saad Rizvi reportedly received bullet injuries on his shoulder and was seen falling on the ground. Later, Saad Rizvi and his brother Anas Rizvi went missing and there is no trace of the two as yet. The leaders of the outfit claim that the two brothers are with the police while the IG Punjab has said that the they are neither with the Punjab police nor with any security agencies. This has caused anxiety among the supporters and members of the group. There are also contradicting reports on the number of casualties in the clashes. According to the police, only three persons including one policeman was killed while other media reports put the number at 15. However, the opposition leader of Punjab assembly, Moin Qureshi said that 285 were killed and 1600 were injured from the police firing. Some reports have also suggested the death of Saad Rizvi. Eye witnesses said that both the brothers had sustained injuries. The TLP leaders said that when the clashes broke out, they tried to move backwards but they found blockades at their back and they felt that they were pushed forward into a trap. They also said that even after the clashes were over, the police and the rangers continued vandalising public property. Political analysts have questioned the timing of the protests staged by the TLP. They launched their protest on 9 October, exactly tbe day when Donald Trump announced that the ceasefire had been reached between Israel and Hamas. What was the point in expressing solidarity with Palestinians when they had already got relief from two years of bombing, starvation and destruction? Questionably, the TLP did not stage any protest during the two years of war nor sent any humanitarian aid to Gaza. It woke up to express solidarity with the people of Gaza when the ceasefire was announced by Trump. They could have staged protest meetings in Lahore and avoid any confrontation if they simply wanted to expresss solidarity with the Gazans. But they decided to launch a long million march to the US embassy in Islamabad and submit a memorandum to the embassy. This led to confrontation with the police which culminated into death and mayhem. Another noteworthy point of the solidarity march is that it was launched on the same day on which Afghanistan's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaki arrived in India on a six day visit and Pakistan's army and security forces were engaged in a war with Afghan soldiers on the Pak-Afghan border. The violent response of the Punjab government and police has also been questioned by the Pakistani journalists like Imran Reyaz Khan and Hamid Mir. They said that the Punjab government should have allowed the TLP to complete their long march and submit their memorandum to the US embassy. By trying to suppress the march, the Pakistan government demonstrated their loyalty to the US and Israel and therefore demonstrated a shift in its Israel policy. By crushing the protests, the Pakistan government has conveyed the message to the US and Israel that it might recognise Israel. The reason for this inference is that the mainstream Pakistani media ran a live telecast of the Knesset session where Trump delivered its speech and praised Benjamin Netanyahu. The irony is that Pakistani media cannot show Imran Khan's photo or telecast his speech on television. The crackdown on the TLP was a part of the same policy towards Israel. The fact is that the TLP is an extremist sectarian organisation but the state crackdown against it is not because the Pakistani state wants to root out extremism and sectarianism. The successive Pakistan governments have had an on and off relationship with this extremist outfit. According to a Gallup survey, the majority of the TLP supporters were supporters of Muslim League (N) till 2013 and they voted for League (N) in 2013 elections but they abandoned N-League in 2018 and voted their own party TLP in 2018 elections. The N-League government had banned the outfit in 2017 after their protests in Faizabad turned violent. In 2021, Imran Khan's government banned the outfit but the ban was lifted later under pressure from the religious lobby. Since the TLP mobilises large passionate crowd and is against the N-League, the current government exploited the protests to crush the group as it has crushed all the dissenting groups in the country in the last two years. After 2017, the TLP has emerged as the third political power ahead of even PPP. This has caused concern among the N-League leadership. It, therefore, decided to crush the group. This was the reason, the TLP leadership felt that they were pushed forward into a trap and were not allowed to back out in Muridke. The police has also registered a number of cases under serious sections against Saad Rizvi suggesting that he may also be put behind bars for a long period like Imran Khan. Interestingly, the Pakistan government did not launch any crackdown against the TLP earlier on a number of occasions when they staged violent protests because then it was an ally of N-League or the PTI. The TLP is known for its violent protests in support of Salman Tasir's assassin Mumtaz Qadri and has opposed any move to repeal or reform blasphemy laws. It has also staged protests demanding the expulsion of western diplomats. As the news of the disappearance of Saad Rizvi and the rumours of his death is doing the rounds in Pakistan, tensions among his followers are running high and the government is gearing up for any backlash. Therefore, Pakistan Telecommunications department has announced an 18 hour internet suspension from 14 October. Internet services have already slowed down since yesterday evening. Some Pakistani journalists feel that there may be some bad news about Saad Rizvi that might trigger a violent backlash. Hence the suspension of internet services. As grave circumstances are unfolding in Pakistan, it is becoming clearer that Pakistan government has been trapped in a vicious cycle of its own making. It entered into a defence pact with Saudi Arabia because of financial constraints but antagonised Israel and the US in the process. To balance this, Pakistan has leaned towards Israel and may even support Trump 's Gaza plan or recognise Israel alongwith Indonesia. If this happens, the TLP may mobilise a greater public support and pose a serious threat to the Shahbaz government by allying with Imran Khan and other militant organisations . In this situation, Saad Rizvi, dead or alive, has become a serious threat to the Shahbaz government. Pakistan has long harboured, funded and patronised militant and extremist organisations for political gains and used these organisations against India. Now these organisations have posed a grave threat to its own existence and all its resources and energy is being exhausted in countering the demons it created in order to use them as foreign policy tools but the tools have boomeranged and the army and the puppet government have no idea how to deal with the demons it created. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/tehreek-labbaik-pakistan-palestine-mysterious-saad-rizvi/d/137245 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism