Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s arrest: Jang-Geo workers hold countrywide demos

RAWALPINDI: The workers and journalists of Geo and Jang group Monday held protest demonstration against unlawful detention of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman calls for his immediate release and said the illegal arrest is violation of the constitution, law of land and human rights.

The demonstration of workers and journalists along with the representatives of journalists organisations, labour organisations and political workers outside the offices of Jang and The News at Murree road in Rawalpindi continued on Monday for last 109 days against the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

The protesters at the demonstrations chanted slogans and raised placards against the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and vowed to continue till the release of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Secretary General Pakistan Federal Unions of Journalists Nasir Zaidi said the journalists of the country stood with the workers of Geo and Jang group and Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman for their cause of freedom of media. “The workers and journalists of Geo and Jang Group stood with Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman who was now torch bearer of the cause of the freedom of media in the country,” he said.

Chairman Editorial Committee of Jang Rawalpindi Hanif Khalid the release of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will be victory of truth. “Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman stood for the truth and refused to make any compromise on freedom of media and truth,” he said.

Chairman Joint Action Committee and President Jang Workers Union Rawalpindi Nasir Chisti said the workers stood united and will continue their movement till the release of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Magazine Editor of Jang Rawalpindi Farooq Aqdas said all those matters either politicians, human rights activists, seasoned lawyers of the country, Journalist or belongs to any sector are all on same page to condemned the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Chief reporter Jang Rawalpindi Rana Ghulam Qadir said Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman stood firm against injustice. He said Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will never compromise on principle and not afraid of false and fabricated reference.

Secretary General RIUJ and senior Correspondent of Geo News Asif Ali Bhatti said the arrest of Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was only meant to bring the media under pressure.

He said Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman never bow before the illegal demands. PML-N political worker Imtiaz Taji said the political parties and people of Pakistan stand with Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Media workers of Jang Group Amjad Ali Abbasi, Malik Nusrat, Munir Shah, Razaq Bhatti Kaleem Shamim and others said that the workers of Geo and Jang group stood firm with their Editor-in-Chief of Geo and Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

In Lahore, the participants in a protest demonstration Monday called upon the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s illegal arrest and detention for more than a hundred days.

Speaking at a protest camp, being held at Davis Road outside the Jang/Geo offices, they said that injustice was being meted out to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, which was a direct attack on the freedom of press in the country.

They said struggle for Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s release would continue till his respectable release, and the government must refrain from mean tactics being used to curb the media freedom.

The speakers said that democracy could not flourish without free media and added that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was fighting for the freedom of the entire media.

Those who spoke on the occasion included senior journalists of Jang/Geo Maqsood Butt, Shahab Ansari, Awais Qarni, Sher Ali Khalti, Zaheer Anjum, Jang Workers Union’s Mohammad Farooq, Aziz Sheikh, Wahab Khanzada, Akmal Bhatti, Hafiz Asad, Munawar Hussain, Mohammed Ali, Akmal Bhatti and Afzal Abbas.

In Bahawalpur, journalists on Monday continued their symbolic hunger strike and protest against the arrest of Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.The journalists staged a demonstration under the Bahawalpur Union of Journalists at Bahawalpur Press Club. The protesters led by former vice president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Muhammad Ameen Abbasi and general secretary Rasheed Hashmi.The protesters also staged a sit -in and hunger strike camp to register their protest. They also took out a protest rally to condemn the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. The protesters chanted slogans against the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded his immediate release. The protest was also attended by the Daily Jang, Geo News and The News workers.

In Peshawar, the workers of the Jang Media Group continued to protest on Monday against the arrest of their Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands, the protesters urged the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman forthwith and withdraw the cases against him.

The participants of the protest chanted slogans against the arrest of the head of the largest media group of the country for the last 108 days without proving a single corruption case in an over three decades old property case.

Terming the arrest an attack on the independent media, the speakers, including the senior journalists Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Shah Zaman and Imdad Ali Qazalbash in separate speeches condemned the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman only to pressurize the Jang Group into toeing the government line.

They said the previous governments had also tried to pressurize the independent media but they could not succeed in their designs.

The speakers said the media would continue to perform its duty to highlight corruption of the rulers and would not compromise on principles.

They said the government claimed to be a champion of change and reforms but could not tolerate criticism. It first stopped the government advertisements to the Jang Group and later changed the frequency of the Geo TV transmissions.

Flaying all these tactics, the protesters asked the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and withdraw cases against him. They warned of expanding the protest movement if their genuine demands were not accepted.