Journalists demand release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: Journalists on Monday continued the protest against the arrest of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded his release forthwith.

The protesters converged on the lawn outside the offices of Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV in the Khyber Super Market. They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with demands.

The protesters kept on chanting slogans against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for targeting the Jang Group and putting under pressure the free media. Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Nisar Mahmood, Khalid Kheshgi, Farmanullah Jan, Ansar Abbas, Sabz Ali Shah, Gohar Ali, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Ihtesham Toru and others addressed on the occasion.

The speakers slammed the PTI government for arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on cooked-up charges on March 12 and keeping him behind bars since then. They lamented that the Jang Group chief had been interned for the last 187 days because the government was punishing him and his media house for pursuing independent journalism.The speakers were critical of the National Accountability Bureau for its selective approach of going after the opposition parties and pressuring the free media. They said the NAB was being used by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government to suppress the opposition and non-pliant media houses on the one hand and sparing the tainted members of the ruling party on the other. The protesters implored the apex court of the country to take notice of the case and provide justice to the head of the Jang media group.