Demand renewed for release of Editor-in-Chief

PESHAWAR: The journalist community members renewed the demand for an early release of Editor-in-Chief of the Jang, Geo and The News, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, as they continued the protest against his arrest on Tuesday.

The protesters carried banners and placards inscribed with various slogans. They sought the release of the Jang Group chief who had been detained since March 12 of this year. Those who spoke on the occasion included Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash and others. They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being victimized for promoting independent journalism in the country. His arrest was termed illegal, unconstitutional and a brazen attack on the independent media.

The protesters were critical of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB. They said both had joined hands to punish the largest media group of the country. The speakers said the NAB had no authority to arrest a person in a three decades-old property case, adding the Jang Group head was arrested because the so-called anti-graft body was being used by the PTI govt to suppress the dissent. They said the PTI government had embarked on an anti-media policy which was equally hurting the media houses and the journalists. The speakers said the pressure tactics were being used against the Jang Media Group. They cited denial of due share in advertisements and disruption of the Geo TV transmission to prove their point.