Northlines
Markandey Katju
The Pakistani Government and the religious fundamentalist Tehreek-e-Labaik Party (TLP) have agreed to place the issue of expelling the French Ambassador before the Parliament. The TLP is a far-Right extremist group which wants strict enforcement of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan which are often used to target Ahmadis, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and so on. In 2017, the TLP launched an agitation which brought the whole of Pakistan to a standstill over a proposed change in an election law, which it said was against the concept of “khatme nabuwat (finality of Prophethood).” Now, the TLP has demanded the expulsion of the French Ambassador and nixing all trade ties with France, as cartoons of the Prophet had been shown there and President Macron had said this was part of the freedom of speech guaranteed by the French law. I think any MP in Pakistan who will plead against expulsion of the French Ambassador in the debate will be placing his life at risk and becoming “wajib al qatl (deserving to die)”, like those members of the French National Convention who in January 1793 voted to spare King Louis 16 from the guillotine.