Demand made to release Editor-in-Chief

PESHAWAR: The media workers demanded the release of Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, as they continued the protest against his arrest on Monday.

They had banners and placards inscribed with slogans which condemned the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and victimisation of his Jang Group. Those who addressed the protesters were senior journalist Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Farmanullah Jan, Ihtesham Toru, Qaisar Khan, Gulzar Khan, and others. The speakers said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was heading the largest media group of the country but had been under detention for over five months on charges which were highly questionable.

The speakers said the government was victimising Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and the Jang Group for not going pliant and promoting independent journalism. The protesters said though legal experts had clearly said that the arrest of the Jang Group chief was illegal and unconstitutional, he continued to be behind bars since March 12. They said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was using the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to victimize its opponents and free media. The speakers said the NAB had always shown selectivity while taking up the graft cases.

“It has ignored massive financial scandals, including Bus Rapid Transit, Malam Jabba, Billion Tsunami Tree and those of sugar and flour,” said one of the speakers. The protesters said the PTI government was using heavy-handed tactics to control the free press and the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was a case in point. They recalled that the official advertisements to the Jang Group were stopped and the Jang Group dues pending against the government were not being released which had brought financial woes to the media house and the workers associated with it. The speakers implored the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of this case and provide justice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.