RAWALPINDI\/ LAHORE\/PESHAWAR\/ KARACHI: The protest of\njournalists and workers of Geo and Jang Group along with the cross section of\ncivil society, political workers and journalists organisations continued on\nSunday against the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protest of media workers entered 52nd day on Sunday on\nthe eve of International Press Freedom Day against the illegal arrest of Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman. The protesters raised slogans for the release of Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman and pledged that the protest will continue till the release of\nthe Editor-in-Chief and achieving the freedom of media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the protest camp outside the offices of Jang and\nThe News in Rawalpindi, the speakers called for release of Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman, saying that 52 days have past, but he was under detention in\na fake and fabricated case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said purpose of the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was\nonly to attack the press freedom and Geo and Jang Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairman Joint Action Committee and President Jang Workers\nUnion Nasir Chishti said international human rights organisations have declared\nthe case against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as fake and fabricated and demanding his\nrelease. He said the rulers were mistaken if they think that they could bring\nMir Shakil-ur-Rahman into pressure with such tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe workers of Geo and Jang Group stand with their\nEditor-in-Chief and will continue their protest till his release,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media workers said the international human rights\norganisations, journalists and intellectuals all over the world condemned the\nillegal arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and declared it attack on the freedom of\nmedia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman will never bow before the\nillegal demands of the rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Lahore, senior journalists, workers of Jang Group and\nmembers of civil society continued protest against the illegal detention of Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman on World Press Freedom Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Press Freedom Day was observed worldwide but in\nPakistan it was marked with more enthusiasm outside the offices of Jang\/Geo\nGroup in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and etc as Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, who is a\nknown activist of free press, was under illegal detention of government for the\npast many weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the Lahore office, a large number of journalists\nfrom different media organisations, workers of Jang\/Geo\/The News, political\nworkers of different parties and representatives of many civil society\norganisations gathered and shouted slogans for free media, free press as well\nas free Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the protesters were of the view that Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman was detained in a fake case because the government wanted to\nhim to give up his free media stance. Prominent protesters included Shaheen\nQureshi, Geo Bureau chief Raees Ansari, Shazia Khan of Awami Workers Party, PUJ\nchief Qamar-uz-Zaman Bhatti, Abdullah Malik and Jang chief reporter Maqsood\nButt. They raised slogans for immediate release of Editor-in-Chief and pledged\nthat they will continue to protest till Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman\u2019s release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raees Ansari said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman always struggled for\nfreedom of press. He said his detention was illegal and demanded the government\nto immediately release him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qamar Bhatti, said international press freedom organisations\nshould intervene in this issue and exert pressure on the government to release\nEditor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. He said human rights organisations,\njournalist organisations and intellectuals have already declared arrest of Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman an attack on media and were demanding his immediate release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maqsood Butt said Editor-in-Chief and Jang Group was made\ntarget only for bringing the truth and facts before the people. He said rulers\ndidn\u2019t like free media so they arrested Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, only to put\npressure on him. \u201cI know Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is a man of strong nerves and\nwill not bow down,\u201d he said, adding the Editor-in-Chief had already refused to\ntoe the line of the government in running his channel as well as newspapers.\nShaheen Qureshi said workers of Jang\/Geo Group were protesting in a peaceful\nmanner. He thanked the civil society and political workers for joining the\nprotest camp and said the matter is now with the higher judiciary and they are\nhopeful to get justice soon in the shape of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PML-Nleader Arbab Khizer Hayat commended Jang\/Geo\nEditor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman\u2019s commitment to freedom of press and\ndemanded his immediate release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his message, Arbab Khizer Hayat said that media is the\nvoice of the oppressed, helpless and helpless. \u201cTo speak the truth to power is\nalways difficult but this duty is fulfilled by the media with great courage,\u201d\nhe said, but regretted that in the present era the hands of the critical media\nin the country are tied. \u201cWe pay homage to all journalists who were martyred in\nthe way of the truth,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that if the present government believed in the\nconstitutional right to freedom of expression, then it must immediately pay the\noutstanding dues to the media and save workers from unemployment and their\nfamilies from starvation. He said that there had never been a day when the\nmedia and workers do not present the viewpoint of the ruling party. \u201cIn fact,\nif Imran Khan understands, his party was established thanks to the media,\u201d he added.\nAfter the national print and electronic media, he said, now social media has\nalso come under the government\u2019s attack, because Imran Khan now sees himself in\nthe mirror by social media and does not tolerate it either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Peshawar, the media workers from the Jang\/Geo Group\ncontinued to protest against the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, and renewed\nthe commitment to continue the struggle for securing his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in\nfavour of their demands, the protestors chanted slogans against the government\nand NAB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were critical of both for illegally detaining the\neditor of the biggest media group in a property case which was over three\ndecades old. The participants recalled that they had been staging the protest\nfor the last 53 consecutive days for the release of their editor-in-chief but\nthe rulers remained unmoved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the occasion, Daily Jang Resident Editor Arshad\nAziz Malik and others said the entire world was watching the illegal detention\nof Mir Shakil. They said the Jang Group chief was cooperating with NAB but\nstill, he was arrested without fulfilling the legal procedures and completing\nthe inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, they, said was done to pressurise the biggest media\ngroup. They said the rulers were resorting to cheap tactics which would not\nsucceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The speakers demanded the release of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman,\nwithdrawal of cases against him and release of dues to the Jang Group so that\nworkers could be paid salaries. They said the rulers wanted to suppress\nindependent media and the opposition but such policies were not in the interest\nof democracy and country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Karachi, journalists and media trade union bodies at the\nprotest said that marking World Press Freedom Day on Sunday (May 3),\ninternational leaders have been directing their governments to ensure the\nindependence of media and safety of journalists, but on the contrary, rulers in\nPakistan have been busy in suppressing press freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were speaking to the participants of the protest camp\nset up outside Jang Building, Azadi Street, in Karachi for the release of the\ngroup\u2019s Editor In Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. The Jang-Geo joint action\ncommittee organised the protest camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said that journalists and rights organisations,\nacademics and parliamentarians across the world have reacted furiously to the\nillegal arrest of Mir Shakeel-ur-Rahman in Pakistan and termed it an attack on\npress freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation\n(Apnec)\u2019s secretary-general Shakeel Yamin Kanga said that on the international\npress freedom day, all international leaders, including the United National\u2019s\nsecretary-general, have been raising their voices to uphold media freedom and\nto ensure the safety of media workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut in Pakistan, the government has detained Mir\nShakeel-ur-Rahman, Group Editor In Chief of the country\u2019s largest media\nnetwork, in a baseless and false case,\u201d Kanga said. He said that his arrest is\nthe part of the government\u2019s ongoing efforts to pressure the country\u2019s\nmainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that journalism and media rights bodies across the\nworld have been demanding the Pakistani government to immediately release Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman whose detention in a 34 years old property case is apparently\nan attempt to gag and control mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pakistani government has deliberately been showing its\nshamelessness and keeping Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in detention for the past 52\ndays without any evidence, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that if the government didn\u2019t release him immediately,\njournalist bodies across the country will devise a new strategy to launch a\nprotest against the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atiq Ur Rehman, a senior journalist, said that Jang, Geo,\nand The News have always written and spoken the truth and because of it, people\nacross the world trust in their news and reporting. He also demanded to\nimmediately release Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and end baseless cases against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dara Zafar, general secretary of The News Employees Union,\nsaid that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has focused its all energies to suppress\nmedia freedom instead of resolving the issues the people have been facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government wants to press the media to run only its\nnarrative and the media organizations, such as the Jang-Geo group, which is\nresisting, has been facing governments\u2019 acts of vengeance and threats,\u201d said\nZafar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Javed Press Union\u2019s Rana Yousuf said that Mir\nShakil-ur-Rahman was being punished for publishing truth but the rulers would\nnot be able to pressurise him and other journalists. \u201cBut they (government)\nwould not succeed in their mission,\u201d said Yousaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newspaper: The\nNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RAWALPINDI\/ LAHORE\/PESHAWAR\/ KARACHI: The protest of journalists and workers of Geo and Jang Group along with the cross section of civil society, political workers and journalists organisations continued on Sunday against the illegal arrest of Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. The protest of media workers entered 52nd day on Sunday on the eve of International Press Freedom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[4],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8935"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8935\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}