Rallies demand release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The journalists, political workers and members of the civil society on Monday took out rallies here in the provincial capital and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to protest the arrest of Editor-in-Chief of Jang, Geo and The News International, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, and disrupting the Geo TV transmission.

One such protest rally was led by Peshawar Press Club (PPC) President Syed Bukhar Shah and former President of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) Arshad Aziz Malik. The protestors carrying banners and placards marched from the offices of Jang, The News and Geo to the Peshawar Press Club. They chanted slogans against the government and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for illegally arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a 34-year old property case.

Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s Israrullah Advocate, and members of the civil society also took part in the protest. They criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for using NAB for victimization its political opponents and critics.

Acknowledging that the Jang Group was the biggest media organisation in the country, the speakers said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was a message to all the media owners and workers that the “selected” government was not ready to tolerate criticism. They felt the rulers lived in a fool’s paradise if they think they could suppress the voice of the independent media and journalists.

The speakers including Syed Bukhar Shah, Arshad Aziz Malik, senior journalist Shamim Shahid and others condemned the government and NAB for illegally detaining Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and said such tactics could not put pressure on the journalists. They asked the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman forthwith and restore Geo’s transmission to its original numbers on the cable operators list.

HANGU: The members of the Hangu Press Club and Orakzai Press Club staged a protest rally to condemn the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. Carrying banners and placards, the journalists chanted slogans against the government for resorting to such strong-arm tactics.

BATKHELA: The members of the Malakand Press Club also staged protest in Batkhela against the arrest of the Jang group owner by the NAB. The protesting journalists said that the government must not suppress the freedom of the press and release Mir Shakil forthwith.

DARGAI: The members of the Dargai Press Club protested the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded the government to release him immediately. Local journalists joined the protest and raised slogans against the government and NAB.

MARDAN: The journalists, members of youth parliament, traders and members of civil society staged a protest rally outside Mardan Press Club to condemn the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demand his immediate release. The protest rally was led by Mardan Press Club President Lutfullah Lutaf, Vice-president Yaqoob Jehanzeb, General Secretary Mohammad Bashir Adil, joint secretary Shah Hussain, Finance Secretary Parveez Shaheen, trader’s representative Aurangzeb Kashmiri, youth parliament chairman Irshad, Mutahida Talba Mahaz president Abbas Khan and others.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government and illegal action of the National Accountability Bureau. The speakers asked the government to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and restore the Geo News transmission to its previous numbers.

They criticized the government for arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman without fulfilling legal formalities in a 34 years old property case. The speakers said such tactics had been applied in the past against The News and Geo only to stop free media from performing its duty.

They added that journalists had always rendered sacrifices for the independence of media and would do so in future.

NOWSHERA: ANP leader Hamid Ali Khan in a statement condemned the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded his release forthwith. He said his party believed in the freedom of the press and would continue to speak in support of the independent media.