Keeping in Touch With Macron Will Prove to Be a ‘Nightmare,’ Banned Islamist Group Warns Pakistan PM

Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), an ultra-conservative Islamist group banned by Pakistan’s government last April, has been involved in staging violent protests against the French government, demanding to expel the French envoy from Islamabad over Macron's support for Samuel Paty, a French teacher beheaded in November 2020 over Prophet Muhammad caricatures.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik is threatening Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that “keeping in touch” with French President Emmanuel Macron will prove to be a “nightmare” for his government, as per a statement released by the group’s amir, Saad Rizvi, on Thursday.

The statement said the TLP was “deeply concerned” over a meeting between Sharif and Macron which took place this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The ultra-conservative Barelvi group's head reiterated his criticism of Macron for defending French teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by a Muslim student for showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class in November 2020.

Paty taught a lesson on freedom of expression, during which he reportedly showed cartoons published in "Charlie Hebdo." The defense of Paty’s right to freedom of expression by Macron at the time triggered worldwide protests among Muslims, including in Pakistan, where demonstrations were led by TLP chief Rizvi.

A joint statement after the Sharif-Macron meeting, the first between the two leaders, said that France would help Pakistan to revive its economy, battered by deadly floods which have affected over three million Pakistanis and left close to 1,500 people dead.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif meets H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of France on the sidelines of UNGA 77 Session 2022.#PMPakatUNGA pic.twitter.com/h1K7KvJOqN

— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) September 20, 2022

France also agreed to host an international conference before the end of this year in order to contribute towards rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-affected regions in Pakistan, as per a joint statement.

The Pakistani government has estimated that floods have caused potential damage of $30 billion and has asked for generous funding from overseas donors for reconstruction efforts.

Besides the TLP, the Sharif-Macron meeting, however, hasn’t gone down well with many Pakistanis, including lawmakers from former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

“Shehbaz Sharif had a ball with the French president. Is it not binding on TLP chief Saad Rizvi to check in on him,” Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, a spokesperson for the Punjab government, said this week.

Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said in a social media post that Sharif was “making merry” with a person who had defended blasphemy.

Last April, the TLP was declared as a “prohibited” organization under Pakistan’s anti-terror law after around 15 people, including policemen, were killed during violent demonstrations staged by the group.

One of the main demands of the TLP at the time was for then Prime Minister Imran Khan to expel the French ambassador over Macron’s defense of Paty. Khan eventually tabled a resolution proposing the expulsion of the French envoy in the National Assembly.

Last December, TLP supporters mauled to death a Sri Lankan national working as a factory manager in Sialkot and later set his corpse on fire in the middle of the street. The Sri Lankan was accused of tearing a TLP poster, which was perceived as an “insult” to Islam.