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THE BANNER OF THE TLYRA A supporter prays at the feet of Rizvi| Caren Firouz/Reuters The first election contested by Rizvi’s party under the TLYRA banner was in NA-4 Peshawar, held on October 26, 2017. TLYRA candidate Dr Muhammad Ahafique Ameeni bagged 9,935 votes. “This was higher than the 7,668 votes obtained by the JI candidate, despite the fact that this party has been in power in the province earlier too,” argues Dr Ameeni. He alludes to the perception that the rival Deobandi school of thought has a larger following in the province KP by saying “These results have also dispelled the impression that the people of Peshawar do not follow the path of saints.” Starting from November 6, 2017 a protest rally comprising a small number of ideological activists started from Lahore and reached Islamabad two days later to settle at Faizabad Interchange, the key junction between Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Back then, this protest rally went almost unnoticed as the chehlum of Imam Huss...

Who is KhadimHussain Rizvi? Khadim Hussain Rizvi presents his demands before TLYRA supporters| Photos by Tanveer Shehzad /White Star Before November, only a few people had paid attention to the wheelchair-bound cleric with a flowing white beard. His newly registered political party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA), had certainly drawn the interest of political analysts and journalists after its unexpectedly strong showing in recent by-elections, but by and large, Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi remained a marginal figure in the public consciousness. However, by the time his dharna — which had paralysed Islamabad over almost three weeks — had brought about an unconditional capitulation of the state to his demands, almost everyone in Pakistan had become familiar at least with his visage and his firebrand style of oratory. But few still know exactly who Khadim Hussain Rizvi is, where he came from and what he represents. The narrative of these times is that Rizvi has em...