Journalists continue protest against arrest of Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief

LAHORE/KARACHI: The Jang/Geo Group workers continued their protest against illegal arrest of Jang/Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on Saturday.

Representatives of some journalist bodies and political parties also joined them in the protest.

Shaheen Qureshi, Raees Ansari, Zahid Sherwani, Naseem Qureshi, Khizar Hayat Gondal, Zahid Ali Khan, Muhammad Farooq, general secretary of Jang Workers Union, Mahboob Hussain Ansari, information secretary Pakistan Journalists Association Pakistan (PJAM) Lahore chapter, Suhail Kausar, president PJAM,, Miraj Hassan, vice president PJAM Lahore, Azhar Javed, Malik Imran and others participated in the protest camp in Lahore.

The speakers termed the National Accountability Bureau's action an attack on the press. They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being punished for publishing the truth.

Media analyst Tanveer Shahzad said that the press was under curbs in Pakistan currently. He said human rights organisations and the legal fraternity were standing with Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan should listen to voices of representatives of human rights and lawyer bodies. He said the government was trying to control the press and journalists. He said at a time when the country was facing the coronavirus pandemic, the premier should not open new fronts of confrontation.

Ahmed Ali Sani, central member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, condemned the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and said the act was an example of fascism. Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was being victimised for publishing the truth, he added. He said the government should improve its performance instead of suppressing the press freedom.

The participants chanted slogans on the occasion for immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. They demanded payment of Rs6 billion arrears of the media houses.

Demanding the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Shabbir Qaimkhani on Saturday said that many governments of the past tried to gag independent media but they could never win because in the end only truth prevails. Speaking to the protest demonstration outside the Jang Geo offices in Karachi, Qaimkhani said that unjust and tyrant rulers have always been remembered infamously and advised the Prime Minister Imran Khan to not become one of them.

He said that instead of controlling the inflation and providing relief to the public, not to mention as promised before the election, Imran Khan was busy with fulfilling his dream of controlling the media and targeting the Jang Geo Group was in line of it.

He called the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman a stark attempt on the independence of the media and said that he, his party and all the advocates of freedom of expression were standing beside the Jang Geo Group in their struggle against the suppression.

National Trade Union Federation's deputy general secretary Nasir Mansoor said that the federal government specifically targeted Jang Geo Group for its independent and fair journalism and took into custody its editor-in-chief for not bowing under the pressure.

Mansoor said that arrest was a reminder that the government has zero tolerance for reality and criticism whosoever will speak against it will become an example of persecution. He added that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was targeted in vendetta.

Home Based Women Workers Federation's general secretary Zehra Khan said that at a time when the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic, the workers of Jang Geo Group have been engaged in another front to secure the independence of their news group.

Zehra Khan expressed disgust over certain news channels partisan approach in the Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman case and their unethical and non-journalistic side with the government to appease public advertisement. She said that Jang/Geo Group is the front line of the independent media, after it no one is safe.

Others who spoke include The News Employees Union's general secretary Dara Zafar, All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation's secretary general Shakil Yamin Kanga, Javed Press Union's general secretary Rana Yusuf and Geo News Karachi bureau chief Fahim Siddiqui.