malik-ishaq-AP-670
In this photo taken on July 15, 2011, Malik Ishaq can be seen in Rahim Yar Khan. – Photo by AP/File

LAHORE: A local court in Lahore on Friday sent Malik Ishaq on a 14-day-long judicial remand, DawnNews reported.

The leader of the defunct Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan was presented before a judicial magistrate in the provincial capital.

The magistrate sent Ishaq on a two-week-long judicial remand to Kot Lakhpat prison.

He appeared in court amid tight security and was sent to the city's Kot Lakhpat jail for 14 days, senior police investigation officer Ejaz Shafi Dogar told AFP.

Earlier on Thursday, police detained Ishaq at Lahore airport on his return from Saudi Arabia.

He has been accused of fanning sectarian hatred.

Ahmed Ludhianvi, an aide to Ishaq, condemned his arrest as “unjustified” and a “violation” of his human rights.

“We will follow legal course to secure his release,” he told AFP.

Ishaq of Rahim Yar Khan was acquitted by courts in cases of sectarian killings last year. He was released from Kot Lakhpat jail on July 14, 2011, while serving 14 years of imprisonment and was also granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case relating to a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.

Ishaq was recently declared wanted in connection with an FIR 917/12 registered against him at the Nishtar Colony police under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of PPC and 3 Amplifier Act.

Ishaq had made a speech against the Shia sect in Kamahan village on Aug 9.

A police official said efforts were made to arrest him soon after he had been named in the case but he went underground and later left for Saudi Arabia.

After his acquittal last year, Ishaq reportedly visited several places in the country and made hate-filled speeches.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...