Behind bars: JUI-F demands release of detained clerics

Threatens to protest if policy towards seminaries not reviewed.

SWABI: Expressing concerns over the arrest of clerics in Swabi for violating a ban on the use of loudspeakers, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has urged the district administration to release the clerics or it would take to the streets.

Leaders of the party made the demand on Saturday at a conference held in Khoro Dobyan village. JUI-F Swabi Ameer Maulana Ataul Haq Darwesh and General Secretary Hakim Ihsanul Haq attended the conference along with several party workers.

Addressing the gathering, JUI-F leaders said a number of leading and respectable clerics have been arrested by the district administration on charges of violating the ban on loudspeakers. They demanded the detained ulema be released immediately.

Moreover, the JUI-F leaders also urged the government to review and amend its policies towards religious leaders and seminaries after the passage of the 21st Amendment.

The party announced two more conferences in Dagai and Maneri on March 12 and March 22, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2015.