MANSEHRA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Mufti Kifayatullah has termed the ban on his entry to Rawalpindi for two months a violation of his basic human and constitutional rights.

“The government should immediately lift the ban as I have to participate in an international Khatma-i-Nubuwwat conference being held in Rawalpindi on Sept 6,” he told reporters here on Wednesday.

He said that a letter issued by the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner’s office last week had banned his entry to the district for two consecutive months. “This government wants to suppress my voice against its wrong policies, high inflation and unemployment in the country,” he said, adding that ban on his entry to Rawalpindi was a violation of his right to freedom of movement and speech guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan,” said Mr Kifayatullah.

The JUI-F leader said that the letter was delivered to him through an assistant sub-inspector on the orders of the district police officer of Mansehra.

Mr Kifayatullah was arrested earlier this year under treason charges, but he was released from jail after three months on the orders of the Peshawar High Court.

Meanwhile, the JUI-F Mansehra chapter demanded the immediate lifting of the ban on the movement of Mufti Kifayatullah.

“We will not allow the government to limit the political activities of the party leader under the Maintenance of Public Order,” said party’s district naib emir Moman Khan Usmani, while speaking at a meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2021