TLP marching towards Islamabad from Gujranwala

Participants of the protest march spent the night near the General Bus Stand on the Grand Trunk Road and resumed their rally in the morning, despite Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed's Thursday night warning to the TLP to call off its march or face "consequences", reports Dawn News.

The rally, which comprises around 5,000 participants, reached the Gujrat-Chenab toll plaza after stopping at Rahwali to offer Friday prayers, the Pakistan news paper reported.

A large number of police were deployed in the area.

A senior official earlier told Dawn that the next TLP-police encounter was expected at two major security points that had been established at Chenab and Jhelum rivers, the only route for the march to reach Islamabad.

This time, he said, the Rangers would lead the command, while the Punjab Police would assist them as per the standard guidelines issued since the government deployed Rangers in the province under a notification issued on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Friday that negotiations were underway between the government and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP) detained chief Saad Hussain Rizvi on ending the proscribed group's march to Islamabad.

Pakistan's Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday said Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) would be treated as a “militant” organisation.

He said the group will be treated in such a manner due to its  persistent tendency to challenge writ of the state by creating chaos with the support of anti-state elements.

“On Tuesday, a clear policy decision was taken in a meeting, which was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by the top leadership of Pakistan Army, intelligence agencies heads and all the authorities concerned, that the proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik will be treated as a militant group,” said the minister addressing a post-cabinet meeting news conference as quoted by the The Express Tribune.

“We will not treat this organization as a political party,” he said while urging other concerned departments especially the Election Commission of Pakistan to play their role in this regard.