Punjab hands over TLP-run mosques, seminaries to Mufti Muneeb

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that mosques and seminaries previously linked with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan have been placed under the supervision of Mufti Muneebur Rehman, urging ulema to help steer the public away from extremism.

Addressing religious scholars from the Ittehad Bain-ul-Muslimeen Committee at the Chief Minister’s House on Wednesday, Maryam clarified that the government had not taken control of the religious institutions but entrusted them to senior clerics for proper management.

“The mosques and madrassas that we have sealed have been handed over to Mufti Muneebur Rehman. I have not kept them under my control, nor have I assigned them to my Auqaf department. I have entrusted them to you all because I believe you will use them to promote religion,” she said.

Maryam announced that the Punjab government would provide a monthly honorarium of Rs15,000 to 65,000 prayer leaders, adding that her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had directed that this allowance be raised further to Rs25,000. She reminded scholars that the loudspeaker law must be respected, allowing its use only for the azan and Friday sermon.

Demands proof of TLP casualties

Responding to claims circulating online that 600 TLP workers were killed during recent clashes, Maryam demanded evidence to substantiate the allegation. “It is being claimed that 600 TLP men have been killed — then show me the bodies,” she said. “Someone must have made a video. Let us at least see where the bodies are.”

She directly referred to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, who posted the claim on his X account. “A person sitting in Adiala Jail tweeted that 600 people were killed. If that many were dead or injured, there must be videos or hospital records. Even Mufti Muneeb has asked for an accurate list — we will release it, but we cannot accept a false claim of 600 deaths. If that many people had died, their bodies would form a mountain.”

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Earlier this month, violent clashes erupted in Muridke during TLP’s long march, leaving at least four people, including police personnel and civilians, dead, and 56 others injured. Factory Area SHO Shehzad Nawaz was shot and martyred during the confrontation.

The federal government later banned TLP, following a request from the Punjab government, citing violent extremism and attacks on law enforcement.

Maryam said religious parties had every right to political participation but condemned the use of force and vigilantism. “Every party has a right to do politics,” she said. “But taking up arms, blocking roads, burning property, and taking lives in the name of religion can never be acceptable.”

She said TLP’s sites functioned as weapon depots. “Cash bundles were recovered from their offices, and weapons were found that even our security agencies don’t possess. Why did they have so much ammunition — to use it against the state?”

Maryam recalled incidents of mob violence linked to the group “A pushcart vendor was killed simply because he did not lower his head to greet one of their members,” she said. “How can someone holding guns and nail-studded clubs, attacking law enforcers and breaking their bones, claim to act for the Prophet (PBUH)?”

She urged scholars to take an active role in countering extremist messaging, saying the group had “poisoned minds.” “It has been almost one and a half years, and every time such incidents occur, I show patience,” she said. “This is not just a disruptive group — it has poisoned people’s minds.”

She said clarity was needed to distinguish between genuine religious work and violence carried out under its cover. “When you do not speak plainly, people’s minds are filled with doubt,” she said. “When a group takes up arms, it ceases to be a religious movement — it becomes a violent one.”

Maryam emphasised that criminals would face the law regardless of gender. “A criminal is a criminal, whether a man or a woman,” she said.

“This group trained women like militants and used seminaries to hide weapons. I am not in favor of cruelty against anyone’s sister or daughter, even of opponents. But those who commit crimes will be punished,” she added.

She said she had instructed security agencies to immediately release anyone proven innocent. “If someone has been wrongly detained, they must be sent home without delay.”

She called on religious leaders to work alongside the state. “We need your support to free society from this growing menace,” she concluded.