Hafiz Saad Rizvi, the leader of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), has pledged that he would lay down his life but would not surrender to an oppressor and has urged people to vote for his party in the upcoming general elections.
On Sunday, he spoke at an event called the Shuhada-i-Namoos-i-Risalat Conference. Hundreds of people had gathered to witness the three-day Urs of Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s final ceremonial.
After reaching an arrangement with the government, Hafiz Rizvi was released from Kot Lakhpat prison on Thursday. After numerous rounds of talks and two weeks of violence in which seven police officers and an indeterminate number of TLP workers were killed, the two sides came to an agreement.
The TLP leader noted on the occasion that those who were surprised by the course of events didn’t know who won the “war.” Furthermore, he added, “Our dead and injured mothers have won the ground because they refused to back down while sacrificing their lives and property.”
He claimed that his supporters had demonstrated to the rest of the world that they would not back down, and that their moms had not given birth to cowards. Moreover, he added, “Now my supporters are wondering what they will have to do in the 2023 elections after risking their loved ones’ lives and property.”
He stated that all of his comrades and followers stood for Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) dignity and respect, as the nation trusted them to safeguard the finality of his prophethood. Additionally, he said, “Now I demand that the nation’s ballot boxes not be left empty at the future elections.”
Hafiz Rizvi thanked Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, the former chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, and everyone else who helped reach an agreement with the government. He nearly saluted Mufti Muneeb in front of the crowd during his father’s Urs’s final ceremony.
He then went on to encourage the audience that they should keep fighting. “People without an ideology are useless,” he added, “just as having a nuclear bomb in the hands of a weak country is pointless.”
He said that his organization had lost nothing by sacrificing the lives of several people and that if anyone dared to question them, they would do it again.
The conference was addressed by the following:
- TLP’s naib emir Peer Syed Zaheerul Hassan Shah.
- Dr Muhammad Shafiq Ameeni.
- Mufti Umair-ul-Zahrvi.
