Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s arrest: Protest of Jang/Geo Group workers continues

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI: The workers of the Geo and Jang Group on the call of its Joint Action Committee held demonstration against the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on Tuesday outside Jang Building in Rawalpindi and demanded justice for him.

The media workers’ protest entered 110th day on Tuesday against the unlawful detention of the Editor-in-Chief in a 34-year-old private business transaction.

The demonstrators holding placards chanted slogans against the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and conspiracies against the Geo and Jang Group.

The demonstration was attended by Secretary General PFUJ Nasir Zaidi, Chairman Editorial Committee Jang Rawalpindi Hanif Khalid, Chairman Joint Action Committee of workers of Geo and Jang Group and President Jang Workers Unions Rawalpindi Nasir Chishti, Chief Reporter Jang Rawalpindi Rana Ghulam Qadir, Magazine Editor Jang Rawalpindi Farooq Aqdas, Secretary General RIUJ and Senior Correspondent Geo News Asif Ali Bhatti, PML-N Rawalpindi leader Imtiaz Taji, Amjad Ali Abbasi, Malik Nusrat and other workers of the largest media group of the country.

The protesters said Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman was arrested only to mute the voice of free media.

In Lahore, senior journalists, civil society leaders, office-bearers of media unions and trade union of Jang Group condemned what they called NAB-Niazi connivance under which they have kept arrested Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a politically-motivated case for the last 111 days.

They were staging a demonstration outside the Jang office at a protest camp of the workers of Geo, Jang and The News employees set up on the call of the Joint Action Committee and the Jang Employees Union for the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman for the 84th consecutive day. They expressed sorrow that those claiming to make Pakistan a Madinah-like state have incarcerated Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman just for victimization despite that there is no progress either in investigations into the 34 years old property exchange charges against him nor any formal case is registered.

Those who participated in the protest camp included PPP leader Advocate Iftikhar Shahid, Shahida Jabeen, Waheed Alamgir, Secretary General of Jang Workers Union Farooq Malik, News Editor of Pakistan Times Zaheer Anjum, Maqsood Butt, Amir Taimur Malik, Awais Qarni, Khizar Hayat Gondal, Shahab Ansari, Amjad Farooq Kallu, Sohail Iqbal, Aziz Sheikh, Shahid Aziz, Munawwar Hussain, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Wajed, Wahab Khanzada, Akmal Bhatti, Hafiz Asad, Muhammad Ali, Akmal Bhatti, Afzal Abbas and others.

In 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.

In Karachi, while condemning the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, renowned travel magnate Yahya Polani said that the federal government should stop making problems for the businesspersons and immediately release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman from prison.

He criticised the fabricated 34-year-old private transaction case against the Jang-Geo group's Editor-in-Chief and remarked that instead of going after the business community in vengeance, the government should hold accountable its own people involved in corruption. Polani said that besides an editor, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was also a successful businessman who expanded the Jang-Geo Group across the world making the daily Jang newspaper world’s largest Urdu publication. He added that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being persecuted for upholding the truth. He said that because of the government’s vengeful campaign, the business community has become afraid and is pondering on moving their businesses outside the country since the policies here are tantamount to damaging the business. He demanded Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman's immediate release.