GUJRAT: The Jhelum police on Tuesday booked cleric Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza for uttering derogatory and instigating remarks against known religious scholars.

Mr Mirza, a resident of Machine Mohallah of Jhelum city, has regularly been uploading his recorded as well as live videos of lectures and speeches on his social media pages and YouTube channel and has a massive following on the social media.

The Jhelum city police lodged a case against him under Section 153 of Pakistan Penal Code and arrested him on the allegation of passing derogatory remarks against religious scholars.

The arrest of the cleric sparked protest by his followers. The calls for his release also went viral on the social media.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2020