Protest against illegal arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman continues

LAHORE: Jang, Geo and The News workers continued their protest Sunday against the illegal arrest editor-in-chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded the government to immediately release him.

They were carrying banners and shouting slogans demanding release of Shakil-ur-Rahman. Jang’s Group Editor Shaheen Qureshi, Farooq Awan, Zaheer Anjum, Malik Muhammad Ali, Khizar Hayat Gondal, Awais Qarni, Muhammad Shafique, Sh Aziz, Munawar Hussain, Wajid, Imran Kashif, Abdullah Malik, Wahab Khanzada, Bilal Talha, Muhammad Mushtaq and Afzal Abbas were prominent among the protesters.

Shaheen Qureshi said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is an attack on independent media. He asked the Opposition parties to raise their voice and said silence is a crime. Free media and democracy go hand-in-hand and the government is trying to weaken democracy by curbing media, he added. He demanded the government for paying dues of media so that media workers could be paid their salaries.

Farooq Awan said the PTI government could not face facts and truth. He said the present ruler is running the government with a dictatorial attitude, demanding the early release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. Zaheer Anjum said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will never bow before any power as he is the custodian of freedom of expression and freedom of media. Khizar Hayat Gondal said the editor-in-chief is the torch-bearer of freedom of journalism and his arrest is illegal and unjust.

In Peshawar, the media workers from the Jang, Geo and The News continued on Sunday the protest against the detention of their Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans, which highlighted the demands. The protesters chanted slogans against the government and National Accountability Bureau after accusing them of being in league with each other for suppressing the dissent. The speakers, including the senior journalists, Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Imdad Ali Qazalbash and others said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was pursuing anti-press policies.

They lamented that the head of the largest media group of the country had been arrested by violating the rules in a 34 years old property case. They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman had been detained for the last 137 days to gag the independent media. The speakers said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was illegal, unconstitutional and an attack on the independent media.

They said the media workers had neither accepted such illegal acts of the powerful rulers in the past, nor would they bow to the pressures now. The speakers asked the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the case and provide injustice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

They demanded the release of the Jang Media Group chief and withdrawal of the cases against him.

In Hangu, the office-bearers and workers of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Sunday staged a protest meeting and rally against the illegal detention of The News/Jang Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded the government to release him forthwith.

Held at Kach Phattak area in Hangu district, the protest rally was led by JUI-F district chief Maulana Tehseenullah. A large number of party office-bearers and workers, including central leader Atiqur Rahman, former district nazim Mufti Ubaidullah, ex-tehsil nazim Piyawazar, ex-town nazim Saadullah Jan, Hammad Azam advocate, Haji Shaheen and others attended the rally. The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands. Chanting slogans against the government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the protesters lamented that the owner of the biggest media group of the country had been under custody for the last many days without any crime.

The protesters termed Mir Shakil’s detention illegal and unconstitutional and said that the rulers were bent upon to strangulate independent voice of the media.

They said the independent media would continue to perform its duty and highlight truth and corruption of the rulers. The JUI leaders said that Mir Shakil had been arrested even when the investigations into the 34 years old property case had not been completed. They demanded immediate release of Mir Shakil and withdrawal of cases against him.

They appealed to chief justice Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the case to provide justice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman who had been kept under detention without meeting legal requirements.