Pakistan election sees rise of anti-blasphemy party

ISLAMABAD: A relatively new anti-blasphemy party whose leader has reportedly vowed to nuke the Netherlands should he ever come to power did surprisingly well in Pakistan’s elections last week, which were tainted by the rise of extremist groups, reports AFP.

Islamic fundamentalist parties fielded more than 1,500 candidates in Pakistan’s provincial and national elections that were won by cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan.

Extremists were a major talking point going into the contest with politicians, including Khan, accused of pandering to their vote base by trumpeting hardline issues such as blasphemy.

Here AFP looks at how the main extremist parties fared during Wednesday’s polls.

The performance of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), led by radical preacher Khadim Hussain Rizvi, will worry mainstream politicians and human rights activists the most.

The group, founded in 2015, entered the national consciousness last year when it blockaded the capital Islamabad for several weeks calling for stricter enforcement of Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.

It wants the automatic death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or the Prophet Muhammad.

Rizvi reportedly told journalists recently that if he took power in the nuclear-armed country he would “wipe Holland off the face of the earth”, over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published there.

Fortunately for the Netherlands, TLP failed to win any of the 272 seats up for grabs in Pakistan’s National Assembly.

 

Pakistan election sees rise of anti-blasphemy party

ISLAMABAD: A relatively new anti-blasphemy party whose leader has reportedly vowed to nuke the Netherlands should he ever come to power did surprisingly well in Pakistans elections last week, which were tainted by the rise of extremist groups, reports AFP. Islamic fundamentalist parties fielded more than 1,500 candidates in Pakistans provincial and national elections that were won by cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan. Extremists were a major talking point going into the contest with politicians, including Khan, accused of pandering to their vote base by trumpeting hardline issues such as blasphemy. Here AFP looks at how the main extremist parties fared during Wednesdays polls. The performance of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), led by radical preacher Khadim Hussain Rizvi, will worry mainstream politicians and human rights activists the most. The group, founded in 2015, entered the national consciousness last year when it blockaded the capital Islamabad for several weeks calling for stricter enforcement of Pakistans controversial blasphemy laws. It wants the automatic death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or the Prophet Muhammad. Rizvi reportedly told journalists recently that if he took power in the nuclear-armed country he would wipe Holland off the face of the earth, over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published there. Fortunately for the Netherlands, TLP failed to win any of the 272 seats up for grabs in Pakistans National Assembly.