As Saad Hussain Rizvi was released from jail on November 18, 2021, followers – rather, devotees – of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had twice the reason to rejoice. First was the obvious reentrance of their 'ameer' into the public and political sphere. The second was his presence during the remembrance of the TLP's founder, and Saad’s father, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, at the event of his death anniversary - an 'urs'.

Saad’s timely release gave him the chance to address his followers – a la victory speech from the podium – after months of hiatus caused by his detainment, as well as to remember his late father, publicly. Delivering an emotional speech, the TLP chief said: “I don’t have words to address you all. Because you all have faced all the hardships and difficulties. When I left, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan existed, and now that I have returned, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan still exists. During this time, everything that had been done to it; all the atrocities, they had to be borne by you – whether by giving blood, life, wealth, children, home, family, you have given all of these sacrifices. I have no niceties to present, like ‘respectable listeners’, you all have transcended above all of these titles.

“All I have to say to you is that you must keep your sights set on the destination. And what is our destination? This, Baba jee [his father, Khadim Hussain Rizvi] has told us this, and in such a proper manner, that all of them [their opponents] together cannot detract you from your path, away from your destination. (Saad gets emotional, speaking of his deceased father.) 

“One devotee asked me, ‘Hafiz sahib, what do you see ahead?’ I answered, ‘I cannot see much, but I can see that on one side is the entire world and on the other is you and your God'."

Retaining the TLP’s characteristic provocative style, the most important highlight of Rizvi’s brief speech surely is the part where he gains his followers’ support in taking further “action”: “There is a lot to talk about, but we will talk less and act more. We will talk, and about big issues too, but less talk and more action. Not just talk – we haven’t done that before, and we will not do that now. We would act, and after the action, we would talk about whatever there is to talk about.” Rizvi declares, amidst cries of approval from his ecstatic followers.

Saad’s speech has come a day after his release from jail following a seven-month-long detention. The TLP chief was taken into custody after leading violent protests against the government for its inability to expel the French ambassador from the country. The radical Islamist political party had demanded the country’s government to boycott French goods and expel its envoy after French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s republication of offensive caricatures of religious figures, including those of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in September last year.

The party most recently demanded the closure of the French embassy, with Rizvi standing by the call, even in detention. Speaking to his followers in April this year over the issue of the expulsion of the French envoy, Saad – displaying a style similar in its threatening tone as his most recent speech – said: “In whose [Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH)] name this country was attained, in whose name these big positions were attained, when the time came to prove your loyalty to his name, you say that you cannot present this bill in the parliament. 'We cannot expel the envoy of those who committed blasphemy against huzoor, from the country' – I said you cannot do it, the slaves of huzoor (SAW) live in this country, they would come and tell you to grab their collars and take them out [of the country] or we would guard the honour of the Prophet (PBUH) in a way that would be remembered till the end of the world [qayammat].”

The demand was comprehensively addressed by the Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a television address also in April. The country’s premier stated that such a move would have a negative impact on the country’s trade ties with the European Union.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, reiterated the Prime Minister’s claim, insisting that the expulsion of the French envoy, the closure of the French embassy or the boycott of French goods was the only demand of the TLP that the government wasn’t ready to concede to. 

“The country, as the biggest and the sole nuclear power of the Muslim world, could not risk severing ties with the European Union as France is leading Europe,” he said.

To date, the parliament of the country has debated over the issue but has not arrived at a concrete decision. In its recent bout of negotiations with the TLP, the Pakistani government agreed to reopen discussions upon the matter in the National Assembly, the country's premier constituent body.