Illegal arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

Jang/Geo workers continue protest

By Our correspondents

LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Jang/Geo workers continued protest against the illegal arrest of Jang/Geo Media Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman here Sunday and demanded the government immediately release him.

The protesting workers were carrying banners and shouting slogans demanding release of the Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

PPP leader Mian Muhammad Ayub, News Editor of Pakistan Times Zaheer Anjum, Secretary General of Jang Workers union Farooq Awan, Senior Journalists Awais Qarni, Aziz Sheikh, Munawwar Hussain, Muhammad Ali, Akmal Bhatti, Afzal Abbas, Mushtaq, Naseer Ahmed, Abdul Wahab and others participated. They demanded the government release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman immediately and withdraw cases against him. They chanted slogans against the nexus of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the PTI government.

PPP leader Mian Muhammad Ayub said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is an attack on independent media. He asked opposition parties to raise their voice as silence is a crime. “Free media and democracy go hand-in-hand and the government is trying to weaken democracy by curbing media,” he added.

Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was arrested in a case pertaining to a 34-year-old property transaction that had nothing to do with the government, said Awais Qarni. He said the circle of protest would be widened next week, urging the government to face the truth and restrain from adopting a fascist attitude.

Farooq Awan said the government could not face facts and truth. He said the present ruler is running the government with a dictatorial attitude, demanding the early release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Zaheer Anjum said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman would never bow before any power as he is the custodian of freedom of expression and freedom of media. Khizar Hayat Gondal said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is the torch-bearer of freedom of journalism and his arrest is illegal and unjust. Aziz Sheikh said the opposition should come forward to save freedom of expression.

There is no concept of democracy without freedom of media. Media plays a vital role to strengthen democracy. He said they would continue to protest until Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman's release.

Akmal Bhatti said the arrest of the Editor-in-Chief was only meant to stop the way of freedom of media in the country and to give a message that those who will raise their voice will be sent to jail. He said the Editor-in-Chief stuck to his principle of freedom of media and each and every worker of Geo and Jang Group stands united with him for the cause of freedom of media in the country.

In Peshawar, the media community members called for the release of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as they continued to protest his arrest on Sunday.

They gathered outside the Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV offices to voice anger at the long detention of the head of the largest media group of the country. Peshawar Press Club (PPC) President Syed Bukhar Shah led the protest staged at the Khyber Super Market. The protesting newspersons criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for keeping Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman under detention for nearly six months. PPC President Syed Bukhar Shah, Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Sabz Ali Shah, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Gulzar Khan, Shah Zaman and others spoke on the occasion.

They flayed the government for arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on March 12 of this year on false charges and keeping him behind bars for the last 179 days. The speakers said the government was targeting political opponents and independent media. They lamented that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his Jang Media Group were being victimised for not complying with the official dictates in the media coverage.

The speakers said the government should have provided relief to the masses in the two years of its rule but failed miserably and was suppressing the dissenting voices to keep the attention of the people away from their own failures. They were critical of the National Accountability Bureau and said the so-called anti-graft watchdog was following a partial policy by ignoring the influential figures in the PTI government allegedly involved in massive corruption scams. The speakers requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and provide him with justice.