Protest continues against arrest of Editor-in-Chief

PESHAWAR: Journalists on Friday continued the protest against the arrest of Jang, The News and Geo Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, and renewed the demand for his release.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards, which had been inscribed with slogans and demands. They sought the release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, the head of the largest media group of the country, who was detained on March 12 and continued to remain behind bars to date.

Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Qaisar Khan, Gulzar Khan and others spoke on the occasion. The speakers flayed the government for targetting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman to punish him for the independent policy of his Jang Media Group. They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being punished for promoting free journalism and becoming a voice for the oppressed segments of the society.

The protesters said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s arrest was illegal, unconstitutional and an attack on the independent media in the country. They flayed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB, saying they had united to victimize the largest media group of Pakistan. The speakers said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a 34-year-old property case was opened to question as there was nothing wrong with the deal struck over three decades ago.

The protesters said the PTI government was after the independent media, which had affected the media houses and a myriad of journalists who were associated with the profession. They said the government had not moved against those involved in the big corruption scandals but was victimising the independent media to make it pliant. The protesters appealed to the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and provide him relief.