Release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman demanded

PESHAWAR: The media community members called for the release of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as they continued to protest his arrest on Sunday.

They gathered outside the Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV offices to voice anger at the long detention of the head of the largest media group of the country. Peshawar Press Club (PPC) President Syed Bukhar Shah led the protest staged at the Khyber Super Market. The protesting newspersons criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for keeping Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman under detention for nearly six months. PPC President Syed Bukhar Shah, Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Sabz Ali Shah, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Gulzar Khan, Shah Zaman and others spoke on the occasion.

They flayed the government for arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on March 12 of this year on false charges and keeping him behind bars for the last 179 days.

The speakers said the government was targeting political opponents and independent media. They lamented that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his Jang Media Group were being victimised for not complying with the official dictates in the media coverage.

The speakers said the government should have provided relief to the masses in the two years of its rule but failed miserably and was suppressing the dissenting voices to keep the attention of the people away from their own failures. They were critical of the National Accountability Bureau and said the so-called anti-graft watchdog was following a partial policy by ignoring the influential figures in the PTI government allegedly involved in massive corruption scams. The speakers requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take notice of the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and provide him with justice.