GUJRAT: The Punjab government’s efforts to convince the leadership of Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan not to proceed further with their march towards Islamabad failed on Tuesday.

Home department’s senior officials and Gujrat district administration held a meeting with TLP leadership at the Deputy Commissioner’s office late on Monday night when march participants reached here from Lahore. They met again on Tuesday.

The additional chief secretary (home) joined the talks through video link.

Official sources told Dawn a draft of agreement prepared by the Punjab government with assurances to accept most of the TLP demands was handed over to a senior leader of the Tehreek on Tuesday afternoon who left the DC office on the pretext of consultation with other leaders. In the meanwhile, the march participants had crossed the limits of Gujrat district to enter Jhelum city.

By the evening, they entered Rawalpindi district and were scheduled to reach Islamabad late night.

The march is being led by Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Peer Afzal Qadri and other leaders of TLP.

The organisers of the long march are demanding action against those who tried to amend the oath of Khatm-i-Nabuwat, loud speakers on all four sides of mosques during Azan (prayers call) instead of restriction of using only one loudspeaker, withdrawal of cases registered against clerics and inclusion of the Quran with complete translation as a subject and Seeratun Nabi (peace be upon him) as a chapter into the academic syllabus.

An official source said that engaging the TLP leaders in talks provided ample time to marchers to gather maximum number of people from Gujrat.

He said this group of TLP was determine to match the show of another TLP leader Dr Asif Ashraf Jalali who managed to reach Islamabad a few days ago and staged a sit-in there for a few days.

He said another aim of the march seemed to be exclusion of TLP leaders’ names from the 4th Schedule list.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2017