PESHAWAR: The Faqirabad police on Monday arrested two persons for putting up a banner in the Government College Chowk here, congratulating the Taliban over the fall of Kabul.

The arrests were made after pictures of the banner were widely shared on social media on Sunday.

A police official told Dawn that they had arrested Rahimullah, the owner of the plaza where the banner was affixed, and Sadiq Hussain.

He said the two accused were booked under section 123-A of PPC for endangering and damaging the sovereignty of Pakistan by putting up felicitation messages for the Taliban.

Earlier, banners praising the Taliban were also put up by former Jamaat-i-Islami’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emir Sabir Hussain Awan.

However, the banners were later removed on the intervention of JI leadership following the social media backlash.

A JI spokesperson said his party had nothing to do with the pro-Taliban message.

“Neither was this in our knowledge nor had we installed it,” he added.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2021