Call for release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman renewed

PESHAWAR: Journalists on Friday renewed the call for an early release of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as they continued the protest against his arrest.

The protesters gathered outside the offices of Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV and were carrying banners and placards. They raised chants against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for targeting the Jang Group and arm-twisting the independent media. Those who spoke on the occasion included Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Sabz Ali Shah, Ansar Abbas, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Qaiser Khan, Gohar Ali, Shah Zaman, Rahamdil and others.

The speakers flayed the PTI government for arresting the Jang Group chief over cooked-up charges on March 12 and keeping him interned since then. They lamented that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman had been behind bars for the last 184 days as the rulers wanted to punish the Jang Media Group for promoting independent journalism.

The speakers slammed the National Accountability Bureau for its selective working, ignoring the government figures and suppressing the opposition parties and gagging the independent media.

They said the biased attitude of the so-called anti-graft watchdog could be gauged by the fact it was not taking up those massive scandals, which involved the ruling party members.

The speakers appealed to the Supreme Court to take notice of the case and provide justice to the Jang/Geo Group chief.