Hundred days

It has now been a hundred days since Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman has been in NAB detention, held behind bars. In the most recent development, a bench of the Lahore High Court adjourned the hearing in his bail petition in a 34-year-old land property case on the grounds that the bench had received the case files late. Previously, another bench hearing the case had been dissolved due to the unavailability of one of its members. The court has already sought a reply from NAB on the petition. As per the details of the case, there is no real justification for there to even be a case regarding the purchase of the land. Nevertheless, Mir Shakil still continued to cooperate with NAB. And now we have a situation where even after a hundred days, there is no justice. And Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, the editor-in-chief of the largest media group in the country, continues to spend time behind bars – despite the fact that he was cooperating voluntarily with NAB.

There has been global outcry over Mir Shakil’s detention. Support for him has come in from local business and religious leaders, politicians, lawyers and other media owners who are also competitors across the board – an unprecedented united voice. Press freedom organisations based in the US, Paris, UK and elsewhere have demanded his release as have the authorities in these countries. Protests seeking his release continue all over the country.

It is true that the Jang-Geo Group has suffered multiple attacks in the past as well. It is the only organization to have been shut down over 14 times. Its journalists and workers have faced the greatest of challenges – from threats to harassment to physical violence. And Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman has stood steadfast with his journalists through it all. Mir Shakil himself had always attempted to support just causes. Now, the system in place is offering little in return, with bail hearings for Mir Shakil having been canceled, postponed or the bench changed at the last minute. We ask if a 34 year old land case, with no evidence of wrongdoing in it by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, merits a refusal of bail for such a prolonged period and what this says to the world about the image of Pakistan and media freedom within it. We ask whether this is the price he is having to pay for the freedom enjoyed by journalists in his media house. We ask where justice is in all this.