Deal with TLP was firefighting, not a cure to malady of extremism: Fawad Chaudhry

Information minister says court will decide whether or not to put Aasia Bibi’s name on ECL

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has defended the agreement the government reached with Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan to end a protest sit-in against the acquittal of blasphemy accused Aasia Bibi by the Supreme Court earlier this week.

The TLP called off its countrywide protest sit-ins following the agreement with the federal and Punjab governments on Friday.

In return, the government agreed to release TLP protesters taken into custody on October 30 and afterwards. The government also agreed to initiate the process of placing Aasia Bibi’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) till the adjudication on a review petition against the apex court verdict.

Critics, however, slammed the government for what they called capitulating to extremists. “We had two options: either to use force, and when you use force people can be killed. That is not something a state should do. We tried negotiations and [in] negotiations you take something and you leave something,” the information minister told the BBC.



He, however, admitted that the government would be working on a long-term strategy to deal with such incidents in the future.

“We need to take steps against extremism, we need to take steps against such kind of violent protesters and we need to come up with a permanent solution,” he added. “Right now this is not a cure. This is firefighting, what we are doing. The cure is the real thing and our government is committed to the cure."

The minister clarified that the decision on whether or not to bar Aasia Bibi from leaving the country would be made by a court, and added that the government would "take all steps necessary" to ensure Aasia Bibi's safety.