We have been documenting the rising influence of the violent extremist group, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), in the United Kingdom and in Europe. The work of Faith Matters on highlighting the pernicious and extremist basis of this group can be found here, here and here.

In a recent tweet made on the 2nd of December 2024, the flag of the extremist group was raised at a graduation ceremony in the London Metropolitan University.

The tweet can be found HERE.

What is clear is that the individual in the tweet hoisted the TLP flag in a London University, which should have alarmed officers at the institution. At the very least, safeguarding officers at the University should have identified the flag, which was waived at the graduation ceremony and hauled in the student and referred the matter to Prevent and the counter-extremism programme of the Government.

TLP is a violent Islamist extremist group that has been used as a motivating factor in the murder of people in the U.K and attempted murder of people in France, deemed to be heretics or against Islam. It has also targeted minority groups in Pakistan such as Christians and Ahmadis.

Faith Matters has been speaking on this issue since 2017, and has raised this matter repeatedly with senior civil servants in successive British Governments. Very little has been done on this and surely, now is the time to realise that such violent extremist groups could take hold in our institutions.

Now is the time to act for the safety of U.K nationals and in the defence of our democratic values. Failure to do so verges on the criminally negligent.

Read More: Inspired by blasphemy killer, new Pakistani party eyes 2018 vote

About six weeks ago, a 32 year old doctor in the Sindh province in Pakistan was shot by police. Shah Nawaz was killed by police who suggested that he was resisting arrest after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The blasphemy charge was that he had shared ‘blasphemous’ content on social media.

Nawaz’s family reject this charge and say that he was giving himself up and that he was killed by a member of the local police force on the basis that he had allegedly promoted ‘blasphemous’ content.

This killing came on the heels of another murder on September the 12th 2024, where a 52 year old man  was killed in custody in Balochistan and who was being held on the basis of spurious ‘blasphemy’ charges.

Judiciary Involvement in Blasphemy

We must not forget that these killings and the charges of ‘blasphemy’ come on the back of a range of cases that have mainly involved the beleaguered Christian community in Pakistan, with the most high profile case being that of Asia Bibi.

Following on from Asia Bibi’s case, in May 2020, Aneeqa Ateeq a 26 year old Muslim woman was arrested in May 2020 and charged with circulating ‘blasphemous material’ on her Whatsapp messages. A court in Rawalpindi subsequently found Ateeq guilty and gave her a 20 year jail sentence and ordered her to be ‘hanged by her neck till she is dead”.

In 2021, a Pakistani Christian, Shagufta Kiran, was arrested for posting ‘blasphemous’ content on her Whatsapp messaging app in September 2020. The 40 year old mother of four was recently found guilty and has been sentenced to death.

The list of Christians and Muslims who have been accused of blasphemy continues to rise in Pakistan on the back of the introduction of ‘blasphemy’ as a political tool by the Islamist extremist group, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP). Such has been the spread of their narrative that the lives of minorities and those who even question faith, are at risk. The impacts of ‘blasphemy’ are therefore felt by Christian and Ahmadi communities who have borne the brunt of the actions of the state in denying them the most basic of rights.

Faith Matters will continue to highlight these human rights abuses and to highlight the lives of those affected by the ‘blasphemy police’ and extremists in Pakistan who seek to target minorities. Furthermore, the U.K. Government has not done enough in highlighting and challenging the human rights abuses around ‘blasphemy’ that are becoming pervasive in the country. The meekness of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on this matter, is unacceptable.

READ MORE: Two Christians Sought by Police in Pakistan on Blasphemy Charges

Pakistan’s government and an outlawed radical Islamist party reached an agreement to end a 10-day long, and at times deadly violent, rally calling for the closure of France’s embassy and the release of the party’s leader.

Neither foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi nor religious leader Mufti Muneebur Rehman, who took part in the talks, gave any details of the agreement at a news conference in the capital Islamabad.

Thousands of supporters of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party marched from Lahore on October 22 toward the capital Islamabad.

They demanded the expulsion of France’s envoy to Pakistan over publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed in France.

The protest march saw supporters clash with police at several points along the way.

At least seven police officers and four demonstrators were killed.

“Details and positive results of the agreement will come before the nation in a week or so,” said Mr Rehman, who said he had the endorsement of TLP party leader Saad Rizvi.

The violence erupted a day after the government of prime minister Imran Khan said it would not accept the Islamists’ demand to close the French Embassy and expel the French envoy.

It was not immediately clear on Sunday when the party would end its rally.

Thousands of supporters halted their march in Wazirabad, about 115 miles from the capital on Friday after roads and bridges ahead of them were blocked.

Paramilitary rangers were deployed to stop the protesters from continuing toward the capital.

Sajid Saifi, TLP spokesman, said supporters were ready to “pack up” but were awaiting instructions from the party’s leadership.

He said he hoped party leader Mr Rizvi and all the supporters arrested in recent days would be released soon.

Besides demanding expulsion of the French ambassador, the TLP was also pressing for the release of its leader, Mr Rizvi, who was arrested last year for inciting supporters to stage an anti-France protest.

Mr Rizvi’s party started demanding the expulsion of a French envoy in October 2020 after French President Emmanuel Macron tried to defend caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed as freedom of expression.

Mr Macron’s comments came after a young Muslim beheaded a French school teacher who had shown the caricatures in class.

The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the deadly 2015 attack against the publication for the original caricatures.

Mr Rizvi’s party gained prominence in Pakistan’s 2018 elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the country’s blasphemy law, which calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam.

There is a violent Islamist extremist group called Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), which we have highlighted on many occasions. Here are just a few examples of their support for the murderers of innocent people they regard as ‘blasphemers’. (See here and here).

We have highlighted many times, the fact that TLP is trying to target British Muslims of Pakistani heritage. Their aim is to gather human resources and donations from the British Pakistani community and which will then be sent back to Pakistan. The issue with this, is that anyone donating to this group, will be donating to a violent Islamist extremist group. Whilst it is registered as a ‘political party’ in Pakistan, its core aim is to ‘defend Islam’ through force, violence and the message that ‘blasphemers’ will be killed.

We will be getting in touch with Twitter to shut the following U.K. focussed Twitter account down. Below we list an example of the vile beliefs that they support.

Tanveer Ahmed was involved in brutally murdering shopkeeper Asad Shah in Glasgow. The force of the attack was so severe that the Asad Shah suffered numerous cuts and stabbings to his body. The only reason for this was that he had ‘blasphemed’ in the eyes of Ahmed.

Sentencing Ahmed in August 2016, Judge Lady Rae said he had committed a “brutal, barbaric and horrific crime”.

https://twitter.com/TLPEngland/status/1102577707764850688

On the 30th of November 2018, Deeni News, broadcast this interview with a number of religious leaders based in the United Kingdom. What is so distressing about this interview is that these UK based individuals are demanding the release of violent extremism promoter, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who leads the extremist Tehreek-e-Labaik party in Pakistan. This is not so much a political party, as a group of religious zealots who use force and intimidation against people they regard as ‘blasphemers’.

One of the speakers says the following which is chilling:

“The decision around Asia Masih (Christian), has not only been rejected by the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), but all the religious circles in Pakistan and the entire Muslim Ummah has rejected it”.

“Secondly, we strongly condemn the torture and arrest of the leaders of TLP and all other religious leaders. We would like to clarify this to the Government of Pakistan that such acts are disgracing the country and would be damaging for the safety and security of the country.”

What the religious leaders fail to even consider is that the safety of the country has been damaged on numerous occasions by Khadim Hussain Rizvi and the TLP. Their ‘sit-ins‘ have been intimidating, led to the deaths of people and targeted minorities in Pakistan.

They go onto add:

“The issues surrounding Namoos -e-Risalaat, (the honour of the Prophet Muhammad), is not just a problem of one sect or group but a problem of the entire Ummah. Also, because it is a religious issue so it has to be resolved in the Shariah courts.”

So, just to summarise the nature of the public conversation. UK based religious leaders have asked for the release of a violence promoting extremist, said that his incarceration is a threat to the security of Pakistan and that the ‘honour’ of the Prophet Muhammad is something that is of global and worldwide concern. They then bring in the need for ‘Shariah’ courts to determine such matters. No doubt, any Shariah court would gleefully let of this extremist.