TYL plagued with internal rifts after win over state

Jalali accused Rizvi of hijacking movement, questioned him over dead bodies of protesters

Fresh from a double win against the state, Tehreek-e-Labbaik [TYL] has become victim to internal rifts.

Patron-in-Chief TYL Maulana Ashraf Asif Jalali and head of the party Maulana Khadim Rizvi indulged in a war of words in a late night talk show on a private TV channel where Rizvi dissociated himself from the protest staged at Mall road. In response, Jalali accused the former of assuming the role of chairman by making a ‘new’ shura that backed him without consulting with the founding members of TYL.



Conflict between the two factions of TYL came to the limelight last week when Jalali said that the party was registered by his name and not by Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi's, before announcing a new wave of protests around the country if their demands were not met.

Interestingly, both, Jalali and Rizvi signed agreements with the state - which some analysts believe might set a dangerous precedent. While Khadim’s deal with the government, brokered by the army chief, included the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid and the release of Raja Zafarul Haq's report within 30 days, Jalali had given 20 days instead for the report to be made public and also demanded resignation of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah.



In the show, Jalali also accused Rizvi of hijacking the movement, questioned him over the dead bodies of the protesters. Meanwhile, Rizvi casually distanced himself from the further demands and protests announced by the patron-in-chief. “We have nothing to do with them [protesters in Lahore],” said Rizvi.

Rizvi maintained that the Lahore sit-in should have ended right after the three-week-long dharna at Faizabad interchange came to an end.