Protest against arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman continues: Govt’s policy to coerce free press criticised

LAHORE/RAWALPINDI/ PESHAWAR: The journalist community on Wednesday continued their protest against the arrest of Jang-Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded his immediate release.

In Peshawar, the protesters gathered outside the Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV offices. They were carrying banners and placards and raised slogans against the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and the government’s policy to gag the free media. Those who spoke on the occasion included Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Geo News Bureau Chief Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Qaiser Khan, Gulzar Khan, Gohar Ali and others. The speakers criticised the government for detaining Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman for the last 175 days on fabricated charges and said the government is censoring the media to deflect the attention of the public from its poor governance. They said that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and the Jang-Geo Group were being targeted by the government for promoting objectivity in journalism. They were also critical of NAB's role and slammed it for its selective approach.

In Lahore, journalists, civil society members, office-bearers of media unions and trade union of Jang Group said that the PTI government was undermining the media freedom by keeping the editor-in-chief detained in a politically-motivated case for the last 172 days without giving any proof of the charges or making any progress in the investigations.

They were staging a demonstration outside the Jang offices on Wednesday at the protest strike camp of Geo, Jang and The News employees for the 150th consecutive day. The protesters termed it a blatant attack on media freedom and chanted slogans against the fascist PTI regime and condemned the illegal and anti-media tactics of NAB.

Those who participated in the protest included Jang Workers Union Secretary General Farooq Malik, News Editor of Pakistan Times Zaheer Anjum, Awais Qarni, Shahab Ansari, Mrs Aisha, Shafiq Ahmad, Aziz Sheikh, Muhammad Irshad, Munawwar Hussain, Shahid Aziz, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Ali, Hafiz Asad, Akmal Bhatti, Afzal Abbas and Mushtaq.

Similarly, in Rawalpindi, the Joint Action Committee of the workers of Geo, Jang and The News continued their protest near the Jang building and said the illegal detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman has been also condemned by international human rights, media organizations and renowned intellectuals, who have termed it the worst attack on media freedom.

The Chairman Joint Action Committee of workers of Geo and Jang Group Nasir Chisti, Chairman Editorial Committee Jang Rawalpindi Hanif Khalid, Chief Reporter Jang Rawalpindi Rana Ghulam Qadir, Abbas Alam, Najum Usmani, Kaleem Shamim, Laiq Shaukat, Amjad Ali Abbassi, Munir Shah, Malik Nusrat, Azhar Sultan, PFUJ General Secretary Nasir Zaidi, Khalid Mehmood, Muzaffar Bhatti and several other workers of Geo and Jang Group said they were looking towards the superior judiciary of the country for justice and hoped that they will intervene to secure Rahman's early release and bring curtain down to the dark chapter.

They said the government wanted to suppress Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman to publish news in their favor by ignoring the ground realities. They said the protest was not only meant for the release of Mir Shakil but also for the independence of media in the country. They termed Rahman as an institution of journalism. They rejected the fabricated and politically-motivated case against him, while slamming the fact that he has been kept under detention despite ill health to coerce him to give up an independent editorial policy.