Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has announced that it will begin a "decisive march" from Lahore to Islamabad on Wednesday, and will "stay on the streets until either the publication of blasphemous cartoons in the Netherlands end or the govt immediately ends diplomatic ties with the Dutch".

Incensed by an announcement by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders to hold a competition of blasphemous caricatures, the TLP held a meeting in Lahore on Sunday and came up with its line of action and demands.

The religiopolitical party urged the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government to not only "discontinue diplomatic and commercial relations with the Netherlands" but also "demand from other Islamic countries to do the same".

The TLP also demands that since the said competition's judge is an American national, "therefore, strict measures should also be taken against the US".

Furthermore, the party said that "it will take to the streets at 2pm on Wednesday (August 29) and begin from Data Darbar Lahore its march towards the capital."

The blasphemous cartoon contest, scheduled for November, is being organised in the Netherlands by Wilders — a right-wing anti-Islam lawmaker.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, however, has distanced his government from the controversial contest, saying: "Wilders is not a member of the government. The competition is not a government initiative."

Opinion

Editorial

On press freedoms
Updated 03 May, 2026

On press freedoms

THE citizenry forgets, to its own peril, how important a free and independent media is in the preservation of their...
Inflation strain
03 May, 2026

Inflation strain

PAKISTAN’S return to double-digit inflation after 21 months signals renewed economic strain where external shocks...
Troubled waters
03 May, 2026

Troubled waters

PAKISTAN’S water crisis is often framed in terms of scarcity. Increasingly, it is also a crisis of contamination....
Iran stalemate
Updated 02 May, 2026

Iran stalemate

THE US and Iran are currently somewhere between war and peace. While a tenuous ceasefire — extended largely due to...
Tax shortfall
02 May, 2026

Tax shortfall

THE Rs684bn shortfall in tax collection during the first 10 months of the fiscal year is a continuation of a...
Teaching inclusion
02 May, 2026

Teaching inclusion

DISCRIMINATORY and exclusionary content in Punjab’s textbooks has been flagged in Inclusive Education for a United...