Release of arrested journalist demanded

LANDIKOTAL: Journalists, politicians and social activists staged a protest demonstration at Bacha Khan Chowk here on Tuesday against the arrest of former president of Bara Press club Khadim Afridi.

Landikotal Press Club president Mehrab Shah Afridi led the protesters. Khyber Siyasi Ittehad leaders, tehsil chairman Shah Khalid Shinwari, PMLN leader Sajid Afridi, Jamaat-e-Islami local leader Muqtadar Shah Afridi, social worker Shakir Afridi, Khyber Sports Club general secretary Kalimullah Shinwari, Pakistan People’s Party leader Hamish Shinwari, Christian community leader Arshad Masih and Naujawanan-e-Qabail president Saeed Khan Shinwari attended the protest. They marched from the Landikotal Press Club building and gathered at Bacha Khan Chowk in Landikotal Bazaar.

Addressing the protesters, Landikotal Press Club president Mehrab Shah Afridi condemned the arrest of Khadim Afridi and demanded his release.

They said the arrest was aimed at silencing the journalist community in order to prevent them from raising voice for the rights of the people.

The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police. They demanded the government to release the arrested journalist. The protesting journalists said that they would not rest until the detained journalist was released.

Khyber Siyasi Ittehad leaders also condemned the arrest of the journalist and said that they would support the journalist community in its lawful demands. They threatened to give a call for countrywide protest and block the Pak-Afghan Highway in Khyber if Khadim Afridi was not released forthwith.