TLP to march towards Islamabad against blasphemous cartoon competition in Netherlands
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has announced that it will begin a "decisive march" from Lahore to Islamabad on Wednesday, and will "stay on the streets until either the publication of blasphemous cartoons in the Netherlands end or the govt immediately ends diplomatic ties with the Dutch".
Incensed by an announcement by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders to hold a competition of blasphemous caricatures, the TLP held a meeting in Lahore on Sunday and came up with its line of action and demands.
The religiopolitical party urged the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government to not only "discontinue diplomatic and commercial relations with the Netherlands" but also "demand from other Islamic countries to do the same".
The TLP also demands that since the said competition's judge is an American national, "therefore, strict measures should also be taken against the US".
Furthermore, the party said that "it will take to the streets at 2pm on Wednesday (August 29) and begin from Data Darbar Lahore its march towards the capital."
The blasphemous cartoon contest, scheduled for November, is being organised in the Netherlands by Wilders — a right-wing anti-Islam lawmaker.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, however, has distanced his government from the controversial contest, saying: "Wilders is not a member of the government. The competition is not a government initiative."