2025 Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan protests

On 9 October 2025, the Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) launched a protest march from Lahore and Faisalabad toward Islamabad under the banner of the Labbaik Ya Aqsa Million March. The movement called for a rally outside the US Embassy in Islamabad in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the ongoing Gaza genocide. The planned march triggered a major security response: authorities imposed Section 144 in Rawalpindi to restrict public gatherings, suspended 3G/4G mobile data services in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and placed shipping containers alongside a heavy police deployment to seal off the Red Zone around the capital. Clashes erupted in Lahore when Punjab Police raided the TLP headquarters on Multan Road to arrest party leader Saad Rizvi. Police used tear gas and live fire to disperse demonstrators. According to reports, at least 11 TLP workers were killed and dozens more were injured during the live fire and shelling by the police. The government maintained that the TLP had not obtained the required permission for the march, attributing the unrest to internal party disputes. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member Sheikh Waqas Akram has compared the incident to Model Town Massacre and has said the government could not carry out a transparent probe into the massacre, hence independent observers and human rights organisations must be included to ensure a fair investigation.

In the aftermath, the Pakistani government banned the TLP under the Anti-Terrorism Act in late October 2025.