Journalists flay govt for victimising Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The members of the journalist community flayed the government for victimizing the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as they continued the protest against his arrest on Thursday.

Carrying banners and placards, they gathered outside the Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV offices to protest the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman for the last 162 days. The protesters raised slogans and condemned the anti-media policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and its targeting of the Jang Group - the largest media group of the country. Those who spoke on the occasion included senior journalists Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Sabz Ali Shah, Farmanullah Jan, Ihtesham Toru and others.

The speakers said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman had been behind bars since March 12 in a cooked-up case pertaining to a property deal. The protesters said the PTI government wanted a pliant media and was targeting those media houses which were pursuing an independent policy. They said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was illegal and unconstitutional, adding he had been arrested only to put his Jang Group under pressure. The protesters said the government was pressuring the Jang Group using various methods such as denying official advertisements to it as the rulers were not happy with the independent policy of the group.

The speakers said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was not an independent body and it was being used by the rulers to suppress opponents, including free media. They said NAB should have moved against those in the ruling party who were involved in corrupt practices and whose names had figured in huge scandals. The speakers made a passionate appeal to the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the case and provide justice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.