Deteriorating media environment: Protests for Mir Shakil’s release continue throughout country

RAWALPINDI: The countrywide protests by the Geo-Jang Group workers against the deteriorating media environment, disrupting circulation of dailies Jang and The News and incarcerating Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on fabricated charges continued on Friday.

The countrywide protests by the Geo-Jang Group workers entered the 57th day at the different protest camps and were also joined by political workers, journalists and media organisations and trade unions who carried placards and raised slogans against the government’s crackdown on an independent media.

Addressing the protesters outside the offices of Jang and The News at the Murree Road in Rawalpindi, speakers called for the release of editor-in-chief and termed the NAB laws as black laws that were only enacted for political engineering and vowed to continue their protest. Secretary General Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Nasir Zaidi said the workers of Geo and Jang group are leading the struggle for the freedom of media along with Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

He said the Constitution protected the basic rights of citizens and no one would be allowed to impose curbs on the freedom of expression. Editor Jang Rawalpindi Hanif Khalid said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman always stood for the principles and neither bowed down nor made compromises on the freedom of press.

Chairman Joint Action Committee of Workers of Geo and Jang Group Nasir Chishti said the protest camp was organized by the workers of Geo and Jang for the release of their editor.

Chief Reporter Jang Rawalpindi Rana Ghulam Qadir said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will never compromise on his principles. He said those people who imposed the curbs on the freedom of media only tried to hide their real faces from the people of Pakistan.

In Karachi, religious leaders joined the protest by the Jang-Geo Action Committee outside the Jang-Geo offices in demanding the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and condemning the federal government’s campaign against the independent media.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam leader Maulana Umar Sadiq said that the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was an attack on the independence of media and a start of malicious campaign against the journalist community by the federal government. Sadiq said that through these tactics, the government wanted to blackmail the media houses to spread its narrative only, however, the advocates of the free press and independent society will not let these designs materialise and will raise voice against it at every forum. He said that the media was raising voice of the oppressed and underprivileged sections of the society and stood with them but the government did not like it. He said that accountability should be for everyone and under the guise of it no one should be persecuted.

Karachi Press Club president Imtiaz Khan Faran said that even the United Nations had raised concerns over the state of media in Pakistan as many media institutions had been facing crisis due to the government’s campaign against them. He said that even the allies of the government were skeptical of the National Accountability Bureau’s adventurism and had moved court. He asked the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of the current situation, so no innocent person was persecuted by the government.

All Pakistan Newspapers Confederation secretary general Shakil Yamin Kanga said that long incarceration has made it evident that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was a brave truth-loving person because of which he did not make compromises with the government. Kanga demanded immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and warned the government to not test the patience of employees of Jang-Geo Group. Others who spoke at the demonstration included Javed Press Union’s general secretary Rana Yusuf, The News Union’s president Saeed Muhiuddin Pasha and general secretary Dara Zafar.

LAHORE: A demonstration against the arrest of Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief was held here on Friday.

Among others, Asif Ali Bhatti, Secretary of Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists, Arshad Ansari, President of Lahore Press Club, Shaheen Qureshi, Maqsood Butt, Khizar Hayat Gondal, Zahid Ali Khan, Adnan Malik, Asif Butt, workers of Jang/Geo Group and people belonging to different walks of life attended the demonstration.

Speaking on the occasion, the protesters said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was performing a difficult task of publishing the truth. He did this in the past and also showed determination to do so in the future. They said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was illegal and called for his immediate release. They vowed to continue their protest against this illegal act as it was tantamount to an attack on freedom of press.

PESHAWAR: The media workers of the Jang/Geo Group on Friday continued the protest against the arrest of their Editor-in-chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as representatives of a teachers organization visited the camp to express solidarity with journalists. Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of the demands, the protesters urged the government to release Mir Shakil and withdraw the cases against him. Speaking on the occasion, President, Primary Teachers Association, Azizullah Khan, condemned the government for arresting Mir Shakil in a property case only to suppress the voice of his major media group in the country.

Appreciating the positive role of the Jang Group, he said that Daily Jang, The News and Geo had always raised their voice for the oppressed people and did not compromise over their rights. This, he said, was not acceptable to the rulers who wanted the journalists to toe their line.

Accompanied by other office-bearers including Farah, Wahid Zaman Khattak, Naushad Ahmad and others, he demanded immediate release of Mir Shakil and quashing of cases against him. Resident Editor of Daily Jang, Arshad Aziz Malik, said the government had arrested Mir Shakil in a 34-year-old property case only to strangulate the voice of the Jang Group but hoped they would not succeed in the mission.

He said the anti-people and anti-workers policies of the government were creating problems for the workers who had been going without salaries for the last several months.

MULTAN: The workers of Daily Jang, Geo News and The News on Friday continued their protest against the arrest of Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

The office-bearers of the PML-N visited the protest camp and expressed solidarity with the Jang Group and demanded immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. They alleged that the government was trying to squeeze the free press in the country. Speaking on the occasion, senior politician Munir Langah alleged that the government was taking steps against political workers as well as journalists.

Munir Langah strongly condemned the government’s freezing of advertisement payments to force the Jang Group to praise the government instead of exposing the facts. He demanded release of pending bills of the Jang Group. He alleged that the government was deteriorating the free press environment. He said that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman had been involved in a fake case.

The PML-N workers, including Haji Arshad Boota, Aslam Humayun, Sheikh Faisal Rahman, Nadeem Sapal, Masood Qureshi and Malik Muhammad Bakhsh also spoke.