Civil society activists also join in: Journalists demand release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

RAWALPINDI/ KARACHI/ LAHORE/MULTAN/ PESHAWAR: Senior journalists and workers of the Geo-Jang Group on Wednesday reiterated their pledge for standing firm with Editor-in-Chief of the Group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, for the cause of freedom of the media and to foil all attempts and conspiracies against the group with unity. The countrywide protest of journalists and workers of the Geo-Jang Group against the illegal and unlawful arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman continued on Wednesday, consecutively for the last 137 days.

Addressing the demonstration, Chairman Joint Action Committee of workers of Geo and Jang Group and President Jang Workers Union Nasir Chisti, Chairman Editorial Committee Jang Rawalpindi Hanif Khalid, Magazine Editor Jang Rawalpindi Farooq Aqdas, Chief Reporter Jang Rawalpindi Rana Ghulam Qadir, Secretary General RIUJ Asif Ali Bhatti, Laeq Shaukat, Muzaffar Bhatti, Munir Shah, Amjad Ali Abbassi, Malik Nusrat besides other workers of Jang and The News said that the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief of Geo-Jang Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a fake and fabricated case was a question mark on government's image.

KARACHI: Besides the cross-section of the society, the sports fraternity also deemed the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as an unlawful and draconian measure by the federal government, said Karachi Cricket Association official Arif Waheed, while speaking to the protest by the Jang-Geo Action Committee in Karachi.

He said that the sports fraternity demanded immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman from prison and an end to the vengeful campaign of the government against the independent media. He added the government was attacking the Jang-Geo Group, which was the main promoter of the country’s local talent in the world. He said that the sports fraternity will be part of the street demonstrations if the Jang-Geo Action Committee ever called for them.

LAHORE: Senior journalists, civil society leaders, office-bearers of media unions and trade union of Jang Group on Wednesday condemned the NAB-Niazi nexus under which editor-in-chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was detained for the last 138 days.

They were staging a demonstration outside the Jang Offices at the protest camp of the workers of Jang, Geo and The News set up for the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

Those who joined the protest camp included Jang’s Group Editor Shaheen Qureshi, Jang Workers Union Secretary General Farooq Malik, Pakistan Times News Editor Zaheer Anjum, The News deputy chief reporter Asim Hussain and others. Shaheen Qureshi termed the PTI government fascist and the worst kind of authoritarian regime that was bent upon gagging the voice of an independent media to prevent its own corruption and maladministration from reaching public.

MULTAN: Civil society activists and journalists on Wednesday staged a demonstration on the Nusrat Road against the arrest of Jang-Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and demanded his immediate release. The protesters said that a free press could help the government save the public from problems. The press and media are two important watchdogs of the society but the government had decided to crush the free media, they said. They said that the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a fake case had also exposed the impartiality of accountability.

PESHAWAR: The media workers renewed their demand for the release of the Jang Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as they continued their protest on Wednesday.

The speakers, including senior journalists Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Shah Zaman and others, termed the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman illegal, unconstitutional and an attack on the free media. The protesters said the NAB had no jurisdiction to arrest a person in a three decades old property case.