'Negotiations between Pakistan Government and TLP underway'

Senior Pakistani journalist Yusra Askari speaking to ETV Bharat's Samiya Latief on the ongoing TLP protests in Lahore has said that the protests have subsided in the last 24 hours while the government continues to engage the TLP for a solution to end the deadlock. A high-level delegation has been formed and Pakistan PM Imran Khan has chosen to take a middle ground by engaging with the TLP to find a way forward to the crisis. Pakistan witnessed violent clashes between the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) workers and the government forces following the arrest of TLP chief Saad Hussain Rizvi.

Hyderabad (Telangana): Pakistan had witnessed violent clashes between the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) workers and the government forces following the arrest of TLP chief Saad Hussain Rizvi.

The protests in Pakistan have been on since last week in wake of the TLP's demand to oust the French ambassador from Islamabad.

There has been a strong anti-French sentiment in Pakistan after caricatures of Prophet Muhammad were re-published by the French satirical 'Charlie Hebdo' magazine in France last year. Even French President Emmanuel Macron had backed the publishing of the cartoons saying it was a part of free speech.

The TLP had given the PTI government led by Imran Khan the deadline of April 20 for the French ambassador's ouster. However, its leader Saad Hussain's arrest had sparked violent protests and the TLP workers came out on the roads, which led to the violent clashes between them and the forces. Several policemen have died while hundreds of protesters were injured.

Following the developments, the PTI government, in turn, banned the TLP in the country.

On Sunday, police in Lahore had launched a crackdown against TLP in which 3 people were killed and many were injured. The TLP also held hostage more than 12 policemen in Lahore, after which the government held several rounds of negotiations with the party for their release.

Later on Monday, the TLP released the police hostages after the first round of talks with the Imran Khan government, which buckled under the pressure of the terror outfit over its demand to expel the French ambassador over a blasphemous caricature published in France last year.

A large number of supporters of proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) took to protests outside Lal Haveli, the residence of Federal Minister for Interior, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Monday in Rawalpindi city and raised slogans against him.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is a hardline religious group with a massive following across Pakistan.

The situation remains grim in Pakistan, especially in Lahore city. Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been sealed after Maulana Fazlur Rehman, president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam announced that he would join TLP's proposed march towards Islamabad.

He said that there are around 50,000 Deobandi students in Islamabad and areas around and they could aggravate the situation. Coming days will be critical for the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government.