Well-known Islamic scholar and propagator Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui who had been jailed under draconian anti-conversion law on Wednesday walked out of jail after 590 days of imprisonment.
He was granted bail in an anti-conversion case by Allahabad High Court last month.
Maulana Siddiqui was arrested by the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Uttar Pradesh Police in September 2021 on charges of converting people to Islam. His arrest had drawn severe criticism from Muslim community leaders who had questioned the allegations against him, saying that propagating one’s religion is a constitutional right and that conversion is not a crime. Maulana Siddiqui is one of the famous Islamic scholars of western Uttar Pradesh and the chairman of the Global Peace Center. He runs the Jamia Imam Waliullah Trust.