LAHORE: The PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in\nNational Assembly Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday condemned the arrest and continued\ndetention of Editor-in-Chief of Jang\/Geo Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and said\nhis arrest in a baseless case has made fun of Pakistan in the whole world.In\nhis message on World Press Freedom Day, Shahbaz Sharif reiterated the demand of\nreleasing Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman. He paid rich tribute to all media workers,\ncameramen, anchors working journalists and writers who are sign of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shahbaz said democracy is incomplete without media. He said\nthat the journalism is considered as fourth pillar of the state. Shahbaz Sharif\nsaid that freedom of expression is the basic constitutional right and\nconfiscating this right is tantamount to committing treason. He said that the\nmedia is the mirror of the society which provides opportunity to bring\nimprovement after seeing reflection in it. Shahbaz said that the media is your\nfriend which speaks truth in front of you and points out your mistakes and\nshortcomings. He said that the rulers who tried to break the mirror of media have\nalways repented. The PML-N leader said that journalists have written an\nexcellent history for the right of freedom of expression in Pakistan. He said\nthat the journalists rendered their lives bear lashes and faced jails to lit\nthe candle of freedom of expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is in jail today while\nbecoming the prisoner of conscience for the freedom of expression. He said that\njournalists played historic role in Pakistan Movement, adding that media and\njournalists have played full role in establishment of Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shahbaz Sharif paid tribute to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan,\nHameed Nizami, Syed Salahuddin, Majeed Nizami, Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman, Agha\nShorish Kashmiri, Professor Waris Mir and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman who always stood\nagainst the dictatorial thinking while following the principal of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shahbaz said the PML-N will always continue to support the\nconstitutional right of freedom of expression. He said this arrest has faded\nthe whole image of freedom of expression of Pakistan. He said that that until\nand unless media will be independent, democracy could not be strengthened in\nthe country. He said that when the fourth pillar of the state will be in the\nhandcuffs of censorship then transparency could not come in the society. \u2014\nSabah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our correspondent adds: The ANP provincial president Aimal\nWali Khan on Sunday said that freedom of the press was vital to the supremacy\nof democracy. Aimal Wali Khan said that media must be allowed to function\nwithout any constraints and with complete independence. However, he said that\nmedia should also work with responsibility and should avoid prejudice. He said\nthat media should also prove that it would stand with the rule of law and stand\nwith the people of the country in times of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that political parties, civil society and media\norganizations must unite to work for the freedom of press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

LAHORE: The PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday condemned the arrest and continued detention of Editor-in-Chief of Jang\/Geo Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and said his arrest in a baseless case has made fun of Pakistan in the whole world.In his message on World Press Freedom Day, Shahbaz Sharif […]<\/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":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8939"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}