Another Lal Masjid in the making? Pakistan’s brutal crackdown on TLP echoes 2007 bloodbath

Supporters of Islamist party 'Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan' throw stones toward police during clashes ahead of their pro-Palestinian march toward capital Islamabad, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Pakistan is once again facing the consequences of its own state-driven violence. Over the past week, the military has launched a brutal crackdown on the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right Islamist group leading mass protests across Punjab province. Armoured personnel carriers rolled through protester crowds, dozens were killed, and TLP chief Saad Hussain Rizvi was reportedly shot while leading demonstrations on October 14, his condition still unclear.

Internet blackouts have been imposed in Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, silencing communication as the army enforces order. The government’s simultaneous display of subservience to international powers while crushing domestic dissent mirrors Pakistan’s long-standing pattern of prioritising external image over internal stability. Analysts warn that Punjab, Pakistan’s economic and political heart, may be on the brink of upheaval, much like Islamabad in 2007.

The crackdown on the TLP draws chilling parallels with the 2007 Lal Masjid operation. Back then, General Pervez Musharraf ordered troops to storm Islamabad’s Red Mosque to end a standoff with radical clerics. Around 100 militants were killed, but unofficial estimates suggest over 1,000 civilians also died. The assault sparked a full-scale insurgency in northwestern Pakistan, eventually giving rise to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which remains the country’s deadliest internal security threat. A localised confrontation escalated into a nationwide bloodbath, claiming more than 70,000 lives over the years.

Field Marshal Asim Munir’s current operation against the TLP mirrors Musharraf’s strategy of force over negotiation, departing from the more cautious approach of his predecessor General Bajwa. Yet Munir’s position is far more precarious. The TLP is rooted in Punjab, Pakistan’s economic and political engine, accounting for over half the population and more than 70 percent of tax revenue and agricultural output. The military faces simultaneous crises on multiple fronts: a hostile India, insurgencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, and a restive Afghan Taliban across the 2,600 km Durand Line.

The TLP is no fringe entity. It is Pakistan’s fourth largest political party, with nearly three million votes in the 2024 elections. The use of overwhelming military force risks not only radicalising supporters further but also igniting a nationwide wave of unrest similar to the Lal Masjid aftermath. History warns that suppressing ideological groups through sheer violence often multiplies the threat rather than containing it. The question now is whether Punjab will remain Pakistan’s stable core or become the flashpoint for the country’s next major internal conflagration.