Protests against arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman go on

PESHAWAR/LAHORE: Members of the journalist community called for the Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s release as they continued the protest against his arrest on Sunday. They gathered outside the offices of the Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV at the Khyber Super Market to protest the detention of the Jang Group Editor-in-Chief.

The protesters raised slogans against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government for targeting the independent media. Those who spoke on the occasion included Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Farmanullah Jan, Sabz Ali Shah, Gohar Ali, Qaiser Khan, Sheeba Haider and others.

The protesters slammed the PTI government for arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on false charges and keeping him behind the bars for the last 193 days. They said the Jang Group chief had been put under detention since March 12 to muffle the bold voices in the media.

The speakers came down hard on the National Accountability Bureau and said it was targeting only the opposition parties and the non-pliant media houses. They said the so-called anti-graft watchdog was silent over the big corruption scandals linked to the ruling party members and was instead going after the opposition politicians and free media.

The protesters implored the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the case and provide justice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.Meanwhile, the Jang-Geo Group workers continued their protest against the illegal arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in Lahore on Sunday and demanded the government to immediately release him. The protesting workers were carrying banners and chanting slogans, demanding release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. The protesters included senior journalists Zaheer Anjum and Aziz Sheikh, Jang Workers Union Secretary Muhammad Farooq, Yousaf Mughal and Munawar Hussain. They urged the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman immediately and withdraw all bogus cases against him. They chanted slogans against the nexus of the National Accountability Bureau and the PTI government.

Zaheer Anjum said that the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was an attack on the independent media. He asked the opposition parties to raise their voice and said silence was 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 has been arrested in a case pertaining to a 34-year-old property transaction that has nothing to do with the government, said Muhammad Farooq. He said the scope of the protest would be widened and urged the government to face the truth and restrain from adopting a fascist attitude. He added that the PTI government could not face the facts and truth.