Protest against arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman continues

LAHORE/ KARACHI: The protest by journalists, civil society members, office- bearers of media unions and Jang Workers Union against the arrest of Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman continued Saturday for the 217th consecutive day. He has been detained for the last 239 days under the NAB custody over a 34-year-old property exchange matter without giving any proof of charges or making any progress in the investigations.

Staging demonstration outside the Jang Offices, the protesters criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for backing out on his 20-year claims to turn Pakistan into a Madina-like state, alleging that he used the slogan only to hoodwink masses and win elections through media support. Imran Khan, they said, had been victimising Mir Shakil-ur- Rahman for exposing the corruption and bad governance of the PTI government. They termed the illegal arrest a blatant attack on media freedom and a conspiracy to close down country’s largest media group. They shouted slogans against the fascist PTI regime and condemned using NAB for media’s arm twisting. They demanded the chief justice to take suo motu action against this gross injustice which was a direct attack on the freedom of expression and liberty of media. They also demanded immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and threatened to launch antigovernment movement across the country if he was not released. The protesters included Jang Workers Union General Secretary Malik Farooq Awan, Pakistan Times News Editor Zaheer Anjum, senior journalists Awais Qarni, Sher Ali Khalti, Shafiq Ahmad, Ejaz Shah, Munawwar Hussain, Ayesha Akram, Romeo Jalib, Aziz Sheikh, Shahid Aziz, Shamsi Baloch, Muhammad Ali, Akmal Bhatti, Afzal Abbas, Zahid Mehmood, Shahzad Rauf and others. Zaheer Anjum termed the PTI government the worst kind of fascist and authoritarian regime bent upon gagging the voice of media to prevent exposure of its own corruption and bad governance. He said other owners of the media houses will be the next target after Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. He said choking the entire media would become an easy target after the top-ranking media house would either be closed down or badly reduced to size. He said media owners must realise that unless they empower their workers and professional journalists their own strength would be seriously curtailed, and they would become easy prey for the establishment and the ruling elite. Sher Ali Khalti said victimisation of Mir Shakil-ur- Rahman must come to an end and he should be released as his arrest was a symbolic move to usurp media freedom. Malik Farooq Awan said Mir Shakilur- Rahman is a symbol of freedom of expression and this struggle is not only for his release but also for the freedom of media in future. Likewise in Karachi, the workers of the Jang-Geo Group continued their months-long protest against the unduly long incarceration of the Editor-In-Chief Mir Shakil-Ur- Rahman and the persecution of the group. Speaking to the protest demonstration for the release of Mir Shakil’s release, renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Shah Feroz-ud-Din Rehmani said that the Islamic jurisprudence made conviction mandatory before putting anyone in jail. “It is a farce that the Editor- In- Chief is languishing in the jail for the last eight months without any charge,” said Rehmani, who heads the International Unity of Ummah Mission Pakistan. He called for immediate release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and asked the government to put an end to its vengeful campaign against the Jang Geo Group. He also slammed the National Accountability Bureau for miserably failing to act as a fair institution. He said that the daily Jang was the oldest newspaper in Pakistan and has emerged as the largest Urdu publication read around the world. He said that the government wanted to control the independent media to hide facts about its incompetence and deceive the public. He said Rahman’s unjust detention was against the Islamic law and must end without further ado. Others speakers, including Intellectual Forum of Pakistan’s chairperson Aslam Khan, All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation’s secretary general Shakil Yamin Kanga, The News Employees Union’s general secretary Dara Zafar and Javed Press Employees Union’s general secretary Rana Yusuf also addressed the protesting workers.