Traders demand release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The representatives of the trader community on Wednesday demanded the immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as the media workers continued the protest to register anger at the illegal detention of the Jang/Geo Group editor-in-chief.

They visited the protest camp being staged outside the offices of Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV. The traders’ leaders expressed solidarity with the media workers who had gathered at the spot headed by Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik. The protesters were carrying placards and banners. They raised slogans against the government and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after accusing them of joining hands to victimize the biggest media group of the country.

President of the Tajir Ittehad Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mujib-ur-Rehman, heads of various business centres of Peshawar, including Shaukatullah Hamdard, Mian Muhammad Akhtar, Aftab Ahmad, Zaffar Minhas, Muhammad Shaukat, Falak Niaz, Malik Sanaullah, Nisar Khan, Nasiruddin Hashmi, Waheed Khan, Muhammad Aziz, Shahid Khan spoke on the occasion. The speakers said the government was taking out anger at the Jang Group in bid to pressure the media into submission. They said putting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman behind bars was meant to convey a warning to other media houses to stop reporting the truth or else get ready for such actions. The speakers said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman had been arrested in a 34 years old property case on flimsy grounds and demanded his immediate release.

Senior journalist Arshad Aziz Malik said the Jang Group headed by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being punished for pursuing independent journalism. He hoped all such pressure tactics would fail.