Protest for release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman goes on

LAHORE/PESHAWAR/KARACHI: Journalists and workers of Jang, The News and Geo in their ongoing protest campaign Monday against the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman by the NAB appealed to the Supreme Court take notice of his detention.

The speakers urged the top court to take notice of this delay in justice and the illegal confinement of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. They condemned the NAB action against the biggest media group of the country and shouted slogans for the release of editor-in-chief, who has been detained by the NAB for the last five months without any case against him.

Pakistan Times News Editor Zaheer Anjum said the case against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was very weak. The News senior correspondent Shahab Ansari appealed to the Supreme Court to view this injustice and take personal notice of this illegal confinement.

Sher Ali Khalti said Prime Minister Imran Khan is working against democracy which will bring his downfall. Munawar Hussain, Awais Qarni, Khizar Hayat Gondal, Wahab Khanzada, Muhammad Farooq, Abbas, Wajid, Majid, Afzal Abbas Shah, Aziz Sheikh, Muhammad Ali, Ziaur Rehman, Muhammad Shahid were among the protesters.

In 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.

In Karachi, the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is tantamount to crushing journalism which would not be tolerated at all, commented lawyer leader Barrister Ahmer Jamil Khan while speaking to the protest demonstration in Karachi on Monday.

Khan said that the federal government was using every illegal and draconian means to harass law abiding and patriotic citizens of the country, just to satisfy the ego Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He added that even the Supreme Court had remarked that the National Accountability Bureau had become impartial and was running on the whims of the government. He said that the legal fraternity would not tolerate this lawlessness in the country and will support the Jang Geo Action Committee in their struggle for the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Sultan Bahadur said that Jang Geo Group gave political identity to Imran Khan but he in return backstabbed the group. Bahadur said that speaking and writing the truth became the arch sin of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as the government put him into jail in a bogus case.

Karachi Bar Association's former joint secretary Saeed Abbasi warned the government of the accountability which it will have to face once its time is over, which seems about soon, because of its policies which put the country into crisis.

Others who spoke at the protest demonstration included All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation's secretary general Shakil Yamin Kanga, The News Employees Union's general secretary Dara Zafar, Javed Press Union's general secretary Rana Yusuf and others.