Protest continues against arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The media workers of the Jang/Geo Group continued the protest against the arrest of their Editor-in Chief, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, here on Tuesday.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with various slogans, the protesters urged the rulers to release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and withdraw the cases against him.

The protesters came down hard on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for illegally detaining the head of the largest media group of the country. They said the NAB had no jurisdiction to arrest a person in an over three decades old property case. Terming the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as illegal, unconstitutional and an attack on the media, the protesters said the present government had left behind the dictators in its anti-media policies.

They recalled that first, the government stopped the release of advertisements to the Jang Group and later the Geo transmission frequency was changed and put on the last number to victimize the major media group. The speakers including senior journalists Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Shah Zaman and others deplored that Mir Shakil was arrested in a 34 years old property case without registering a case and proving a single case of corruption.

They said the government should have conducted accountability of those involved in the mega corruption scandals, including Bus Rapid Transit, Malam Jabba, Billion Tsunami Tree, sugar and atta crises. The speakers appealed to chief justice Supreme Court of Pakistan to provide justice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s provincial council member, Abid Ali Shah condemned the arrest of the Jang Group chief and termed it an attack on the free media. He demanded the resignation of the NAB chairman after accusing him of becoming a tool in the hands of the PTI. The PPP leader said the dictatorial policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan were not acceptable to his party. He said his party had always struggled for upholding the constitution, the supremacy of law, 18th Amendment, democracy, independent press and stood by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.