MANSEHRA: The Balakot police on Monday arrested a resident for posting an ‘offensive’ song on his YouTube channel.

The arrest came after scores of people took to the streets and blocked the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road in Balakot for over four hours.

They staged a sit-in outside the Madina Market for over an hour and went to the local police station and demanded the immediate arrest of YouTuber Lala Khursheed.

The protesters insisted that the 48-year-old uploaded on his YouTube channel a Hindko song, which ‘disgraced’ women members of the local Gujjar tribe.

Shouting slogans, they insisted that the YouTuber often uploaded offensive video clips on social media.

Protester Junaid Qasim, a former tehsil nazim, said the residents couldn’t allow anyone to hurt their sentiments and disgrace women to ‘claim social media popularity’.

He warned if the YouTuber wasn’t arrest immediately, the protest would spread across Hazara division.

Other speakers, including Qazi Sadiq and Maulana Inayatur Rehman, also demanded the immediate arrest for the YouTuber.

Balakot deputy superintendent of police Siraj Khan showed up and assured protesters of the early arrest of Lala Khursheed.

The YouTuber was later held during a raid on his house in Balakot area.

The protesters dispersed peacefully after learning about the arrest.

ENCROACHMENTS: The district administration on Monday launched an anti-encroachment campaign and demolished illegal structures in the Khatain da Galla area here.

Assistant commissioner Hasrat Khan told reporters that encroachments were removed from the Abbottabad Road to reclaim Rs10 million worth of land.

He said the drive was carried out in line with the government’s orders for a crackdown on land grabbers and would be extended to other parts of the city and its suburbs.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat-i-Islami has named 781 election candidates for the general, peasant and youth seats in 194 village and neighbourhood councils of Mansehra district.

It will field five candidates for the offices of the tehsil chairmanship shortly.

JI district emir Dr Tariq Shirazi told reporters here on Monday that the party’s seat adjustment with other political parties for the tehsil chairmen elections couldn’t be ruled out.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2022