[Current Affairs] November 17,2020 Top Pakistan Current Affairs for FPSC Test Preparation

2. Govt convinces TLP to end anti-France protest

What’s going on? More than 1,000 protestors from the hardline religious political party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), blocked a major highway in Islamabad (i.e. the Faizabad interchange), on Monday. They were protesting against published caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in France. They also lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron due to his controversial comments about Islam. On Sunday, several TLP workers violently clashed with police who were stopping them from entering Islamabad. There were reportedly injuries on both sides.

The details: Security personnel were deployed to guard government buildings in Islamabad. Residents in Islamabad and Rawalpindi had to deal with disrupted traffic and blocked cell service. Schools and shops around Faizabad were also closed. There were concerns that protestors would get violent and charge the French embassy. Here were the protestors’ demands:

• Recall Pakistan’s ambassador from France (P.S. even though Pakistan doesn’t have an ambassador in France at the moment).
• Tell the French ambassador in Pakistan, Marc Barety, to leave asap.

Tell me more: On PM Khan’s orders, Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri, led the negotiation process. TLP’s protest started on Sunday and lasted until Monday night. TLP Chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi hasn’t officially announced the end of the protest, but he’s expected to.

The context: Last month, after the beheading of French history teacher, Samuel Paty, President Macron said “Samuel Paty was killed because Islamists want our future and because they know that with quiet heroes like him, they will never have it.” Paty was killed after showing caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to his students during a discussion about the limits of free speech. The suspected assailant was an 18-year-old Russian national of Chechen origin.

The bottom line: TLP claimed that the govt accepted all of its demands. According to the agreement TLP described, the govt will touch base with Parliament regarding French Ambassador Barety’s expulsion, and will not appoint an ambassador in France. Plus, the govt will apparently release arrested TLP workers as well, and not register cases against TLP leaders or workers. Even though the govt hasn’t officially or openly confirmed the agreement, the interior ministry did issue a notification to immediately release whoever was arrested over the past two days.