Religious populism in Pakistani Punjab: How Khadim Rizvi’s Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan emerged

Abstract

Khadim Rizvi’s open manifestation of religion helped him become one of the most popular leaders of Barelvi-Sunni Muslims in Pakistani Punjab. He emerged as the leader of a moral community during a crisis. After a series of protests and negotiated agreements with the federal and provincial governments, he was able to translate his support into electoral power. In the 2018 election, his TLP bagged 1.8 million votes (National Assembly seats) from Punjab. It was the first instance in recent political history when a newcomer religious party finished third in the province. No religious party had been able, in the last three elections (2008, 2013, 2018), to impact elections in Punjab as the TLP did in 2018.

The Limits of Possibilities of Religious Politics: The Case of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik in Pakistani Punjab

“…The implication here is that pre-poll rigging of this kind was undertaken to create an uneven electoral playing field in which the PTI would be able to triumph over the PML-N which had, at the time, been favoured to win the elections. While it is beyond the scope of this study to ascertain the extent to which such claims are credible, it is interesting to observe, as Sabat et al (2020, p. 375) do, that the TLP’s share of the vote in 2018 was enough to tip the electoral balance in the PTI’s favour in closely contested constituencies across Punjab. This is significant because, as an examination of the TLP’s protests between 2017 and 2021 shows, there is reason to believe that the TLP’s dharna politics prior to the 2018 elections was explicitly aimed at destabilising and pressurising the PML-N government, with attempts to engage in similar forms of activism after the elections being swiftly and summarily suppressed.…”

“…Prior to his sudden death in November 2020, possibly due to COVID-19, Rizvi, who was himself drawn from the ranks of the working class, exhorted his supporters to, ‘publicly demonstrate their jazba or passion for the Prophet through individual and collective political action’ (Sevea, 2021), making use of songs, poetry and even Punjabi vulgarities to ridicule his opponents, castigate the targets of his ire, and forge a more intimate connection with those supporting his cause (ibid. ; Sabat et al, 2020). The TLP also made savvy use of the Internet and social media, using platforms like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp to spread its message and reach an ever-larger number of followers.…”

“…As a result of this, the PML-N always contained conservative and religious tendencies, perhaps best exemplified by the party’s abortive attempts to pass a Khlifat bill in 1999 that would have introduced an ‘Islamic’ system of government to Pakistan. As Sabat et al (2020) argue, the roughly 2% to 7% of the vote won by the TLP in Punjab constituencies was reflected of how the party was able to attract religious voters who may have previously voted for the PML-N and mainstream Islamic parties like the Jamaat-I-Islami. While some contemporary observers saw the TLP’s emergence as the province’s third largest party as being representative of more religion-based voting, the reality was that the TLP had simply cannibalised and consolidated the province’s exiting religious voter base.…”

Religious Populism and Vigilantism: The Case of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan

“…In recent years, Pakistan's the latter's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Following Qadri's trial and execution, the movement renamed itself Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasoolallah (TLYP), later transforming into the TLP (Sabat, Ahmad, & Qadar, 2020). This movement advocated for Qadri and portrayed him as a hero even after this execution.…”

“…Its followers have become independent vigilantes engaging in cyber-harassment of critics, physically roughing up opposing voices, hurling in-person targeted abuse, and in the most extreme cases lynching people they accuse of blasphemy to death. This ability to mobilize and attack opponents combined with a voluble rhetoric that panders to a "pious" and wronged "true people," allowed the TLP to score 4.2 percent of the vote (some 2.2 million votes) at the 2018 general elections, putting it in fifth place, although without any seats in Pakistan's parliament (Sabat, Shoaib & Qadar, 2020).…”