Demand renewed for release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The media workers from the Jang, Geo and The News renewed the demand for the release of their Editor-in-Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, as they continued the protest against his arrest on Monday.

The protesters carried the banners and placards which had been inscribed with slogans to highlight the demands. They raised slogans against the government and National Accountability Bureau and said both were in league with each other to victimize the opponents of the rulers and the free media. Among the speakers were Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Rasool Dawar and Imdad Ali Qazalbash, who said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was after the independent media and its rivals.

They lamented that the head of the largest media group of the country - Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman —had been arrested in a 34 years old property case. The speakers said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman had been detained for the last 138 days to put under pressure the independent media. The protesters said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was illegal, unconstitutional, an attack on the free media, adding he should be freed forthwith. The speakers said the media workers had always resisted the arm-twisting acts in the past and would continue to stand up to such actions now and in future. The protesters requested the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the case and provide injustice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman who headed the largest media group of the country and had always championed the cause of an independent media.