Protest continues for release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The workers of the Jang Media Group continued to protest on Monday against the arrest of their Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands, the protesters urged the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman forthwith and withdraw the cases against him.

The participants of the protest chanted slogans against the arrest of the head of the largest media group of the country for the last 108 days without proving a single corruption case in an over three decades old property case.

Terming the arrest an attack on the independent media, the speakers, including the senior journalists Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman and Imdad Ali Qazalbash in separate speeches condemned the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman only to pressurize the Jang Group into toeing the government line.

They said the previous governments had also tried to pressurize the independent media but they could not succeed in their designs.

The speakers said the media would continue to perform its duty to highlight corruption of the rulers and would not compromise on principles.

They said the government claimed to be a champion of change and reforms but could not tolerate criticism. It first stopped the government advertisements to the Jang Group and later changed the frequency of the Geo TV transmissions.

Flaying all these tactics, the protesters asked the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and withdraw cases against him. They warned of expanding the protest movement if their genuine demands were not accepted.