PESHAWAR: The members of the journalist community demanded the release of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, as they continued the protest against his arrest on Tuesday.
They were carrying banners and placards which had been inscribed with slogans as they gathered at the Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV offices. They raised chants against the detention of over five months-long detention of the head of the largest media group of the country and hostile media policy of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Sabz Ali Shah, Ihtesham Toru, Gohar Ali, Qaiser Khan and others spoke on the occasion.
They flayed the government for detaining Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman for the last 174 days on false charges. The speakers said the PTI government was victimizing political rivals and the free media to hide their own poor governance. They said the Jang Group and its head Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman were facing the wrath of the rulers for promoting independent journalism.
The protesters said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did not follow the law while arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. They were critical of the NAB role and said it was not impartial in actions against corruption. The speakers said the NAB was busy gagging the opposition political parties and independent media instead of moving against massive corruption scandals. The protesting journalists requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of unfair detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and provide him with justice as his incarceration was affecting the livelihood of a large number of media workers associated with the Jang/Geo Group.
