Govt slammed for incarcerating Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman

PESHAWAR: The members of the journalist community on Thursday continued the protest against the arrest of the Jang/Geo Group Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and flayed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for incarcerating him since March 12 on false charges.

Led by Peshawar Press Club President Syed Bukhar Shah, the protesters converged on the lawn outside the offices of Daily Jang, The News and Geo TV in the Khyber Super Market with banners and placards.

They raised slogans against the PTI government for arresting the head of the Jang Group and pressuring the independent media to toe the official line. Senior journalists Syed Bukhar Shah, Arshad Aziz Malik, Shakeel Farman Ali, Sabz Ali Shah, Farmanullah Jan, Nisar Mahmood, Khalid Kheshgi, Ansar Abbas, Imdad Ali Qazalbash, Syed Farooq Shah, Ihtesham Toru, Rasool Dawar, Qaiser Khan, Gohar Ali, Amjad Safi and others spoke on the occasion.

They slammed the PTI government for arresting Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a property case which was a deal between the two properties and had nothing wrong.

The speakers deplored that the PTI government had kept Mir Shakil-ur Rahman in detention for the last 183 days to punish the Jang Media Group for upholding independent journalism. They were critical of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for targeting the government rivals and suppressing the independent media houses.

The protesters said certain people in the ruling party were allegedly involved in massive corruption scams but the NAB was reluctant to take action against them. They implored the Supreme Court to take notice of the detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and provide him justice.