PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial president Aimal Wali Khan said on Monday that his party was striving for the independence of the media and judiciary.
He expressed these views during a visit to the protest camp of the Jang/Geo Group workers demanding the release of their Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. The ANP leader said that his party supported the Jang/Geo Group in its struggle for the press freedom. He said that Khudai Khidmatgar Movement of Bacha Khan and later ANP had been demanding the rights of people and would continue the efforts until the independence of the institutions.
Aimal Wali said that the government wanted to control the media through different tactics, adding that it was the same media that had enabled Imran Khan to reach the corridors of power and become prime minister.
The ANP provincial chief said that the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a 34-year-old case was an insult to humanity. He said that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could not provide any proofs to justify cases against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and political leaders arrested in fabricated charges. The ANP leader said the NAB had made a mockery of accountability. After politicians, media was being targeted by the government through NAB, he said and added that the ANP would oppose any action that endangered basic human rights.
Aimal Wali Khan said that freedom of expression was a constitutional right and no person or institution could snatch this right from citizens. He said the ational Accountability Bureau had been used by the government to silence criticism, adding the ANP rejected the selective accountability.
The ANP leader demanded release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and other political leaders. He also demanded a probe into the Bus Rapid Transit Project, Mala Jabba land scam and sugar and flour crises.