Protest continues against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s arrest

PESHAWAR: The members of the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) and the Peshawar Press Club continued the protest even during Eidul Azha against the arrest of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and renewed the demand for his early release.

The protesting media men carried banners and placards inscribed with slogans. They demanded the release of the head of the Jang, Geo and The News who has been under detention since March 12. Among the speakers were Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, KhUJ Vice-President Rizwan Sheikh and others. They termed the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman illegal, unconstitutional and an attack on the independent media. The speakers flayed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and National Accountability Bureau (NAB for victimizing the head of the largest media group of the country by detaining its owner. They said the NAB had no right to arrest a person in a three decades-old property case, adding Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was arrested because NAB had become a tool in the hands of the PTI govt. The KhUJ Vice- President Rizwan Sheikh said the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was based on ill intentions.

He said the PTI government was following an anti-media policy which was affecting the media houses and the workers alike. Other speakers said cheap tactics were being used to pressure the Jang Media Group such as stopping advertisements and disrupting the Geo TV transmission which was sheer injustice. They said the government should have conducted accountability of those involved in mega corruption scandals but that was not done and the government had chosen to target the free media. The speakers requested the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the case to provide justice to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.