Daily Times

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah was taken into custody for 30 days under Section 3 (power to arrest and detain suspected persons) of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and shifted to Haripur jail, a private news channel reported.

According to reports, Mufti Kifayatullah was taken into custody in early hours from Islamabad’s E-11 area by Mansera police with the help of Islamabad police after Mansera deputy commissioner issued his arrest orders.

Earlier in the day, conflicting reports emerged regarding the arrest of Kifayatullah. Ameer of JUI-F Islamabad Abdul Majeed Hazarvi stated that Kifayatullah was arrested on Sunday morning. The spokesperson for JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had also confirmed the arrest and said that Kifayatullah had been arrested under Section 3 of the MPO. According to Hazarvi, Kifayatullah was arrested at 4am near Masjid Tooba in Islamabad’s E-11 area. He had been staying at a friend’s apartment. Islamabad Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Waqaruddin Syed, however, strongly denied reports of Kifayatullah’s arrest. In a statement shared by the Islamabad police spokesperson, he said that the Islamabad police had neither conducted any raid nor made any arrest.

An order issued on Saturday under Section 3(1) of the West Pakistan MPO, by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner Mansehra, said that the JUI-F leader was found involved in “chanda collection, holding corner meetings and inciting the public for taking part in the Azadi March arranged by JUI-F”.

“The activities of Mufti Kifayatullah are posing [a] grave threat to public safety, which may create disturbance of public tranquillity, danger to human life, health and safety… Due to this act, serious sectarian disharmony is prevailing in the district. The situation is snowballing into serious law and order situation […],” the order stated, adding that the DPO Mansehra had requested that warrants be issued for Kifayatullah.

Meanwhile, former JUI-F senator Hafiz Hamdullah appealed to the Interior Ministry to restore his Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC). Hamdullah, who was elected senator from the JUI-F’s platform from March 2012 to March 2018, said that he informed Mian Waheedud Din, special secretary to the interior minister, about his CNIC’s cancellation. “The secretary was also laughing at what has been done to me,” he said. NADRA cancelled Hamdullah’s citizenship on Saturday and labelled him a ‘confirmed alien’. This came to light when the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issued a notice to TV channels, forbidding them from inviting the JUI-F leader on talk shows.

The PEMRA notification referenced a NADRA letter dated October 11 that affirmed that the JUI-F leader was not a citizen of Pakistan.