Demand renewed for release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: Braving the hot weather, the workers of the Jang Media Group continued the protest on Tuesday to demand the release of their Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur- Rahman.

Led by senior journalist and Resident Editor of Daily Jang, Arshad Aziz Malik, the protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans to highlight the demands.

The protesters chanted slogans against the arrest of the head of the largest media group of the country without proving any corruption case against him in a 34 years old property case.

They asked the government to release Mir Shakil-ur- Rahman forthwith who had been behind bars for 110 days. The speakers, including Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman and Imdad Ali Qazalbash and others termed the arrest an attack on the free media. They came down hard on the government for detaining Mir Shakil-ur- Rahman to put under pressure the Jang Media Group and force it to toe the government line. The protesters said pressuring the free media was not a new phenomenon as the past rulers had also tried these tactics but they failed to silence the free voices. They said the Jang Media Group would continue to perform its duty to report the truth and never compromise on principles. The protesters were critical of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government for its policies towards the free media. They asked the government to release Mir Shakil-ur- Rahman and withdraw cases against him.