LAHORE:
The noose further tightened around the TLP after police booked 90 of its alleged financiers, raising legal questions about how — and under what law — the police applied the proscription law retrospectively.
Moreover, TLP workers, along with scores of ordinary citizens, have faced detentions and arrests since Monday to prevent any gathering on the death anniversary of the late Khadim Husain Rizvi.
Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, Information Minister Azma Bukhari disclosed that assets worth Rs23.40 billion had been frozen, along with 92 bank accounts.
She said that 90 financiers involved in funding the banned group had been booked, while 31 additional FIRs were registered for spreading hate speech and incitement on social media platforms.
The TLP was declared a proscribed organisation in the last week of October. Registering FIRs against those who funded the organisation prior to this proscription raises serious questions regarding the legality of the move.
Police and the information minister were asked by The Express Tribune to explain how individuals who funded a legally operating entity were charged, but no response was received until the filing of this report.
Dozens of people have been rounded up across the city on charges of having links with TLP to prevent any possible gathering on the party founder’s death anniversary. The sweeping arrests reportedly did not even spare those with no direct or indirect connection to the group.
One such individual, Faisal Ilyas, a shop owner from Mustafa Town, was picked up merely for sharing a wall with a neighbouring shopkeeper who happens to be a staunch TLP supporter. When police were asked about the logic behind this arrest — given that the victim’s aversion to TLP was well known in the area — officials simply responded that they were acting on a list provided by intelligence agencies, distancing themselves from accountability.
Senior lawyer Azhar Siddique, speaking to The Express Tribune, said it was “completely illegal” to arrest someone for funding a legitimate entity, adding that laws cannot be applied retrospectively. He said the law gives no allowance for such excesses. Even detaining individuals under Section 3 of the MPO, he said, was not entirely lawful. “How can anyone be held at a police station on whims?” he questioned.
Meanwhile, addressing the presser, Azma said that a significant quantity of modern weapons, bulletproof jackets and ammunition had been recovered during operations against the organisation.
She further stated that 84% of imams across Punjab have been registered, and the process will reach 100% in the coming days.
