LAHORE / Rawalpindi / Karachi: Protests by journalists, members of civil society, officials of the Jang Group media union and labor union against the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Editor-in-Chief of the country’s largest media group, Jang / Geo Group, continued on Tuesday for 192 consecutive days.

Mir Shakil has been detained for the past 214 days under NAB supervision on a 35-year-old property swap issue without providing evidence of indictment or making progress on an investigation. Holding a demonstration outside Jang’s office, they criticized Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking a U-turn on his high 20-year claim to turn Pakistan into a country like Medina, alleging that he used the slogan only to woo media support to win elections. . However, Imran Khan has victimized Mir Shakilur Rahman for exposing the corruption and poor governance of the PTI regime, they said, regretting that Mir Shakil has been detained despite not making good progress in the investigation into the 35-year-old property swap corruption allegation. nor have any formal cases been registered. Participants called it a blatant attack on media freedom and a conspiracy to shut down the country’s largest media group. They shouted slogans against the fascist PTI regime and condemned the use of the NAB to pervert the media.

They demand that the Chief Justice of Pakistan should pay attention to suo motu against this grave injustice which is a direct attack on freedom of expression and media freedom. They demanded Mir Shakilur Rahman’s immediate release and threatened to launch an anti-government movement across the country if he was not released.

Protesters included Secretary General of the Workers Union Jang Malik Farooq Awan, Pakistan Times News Editor, Zaheer Anjum, Kashmiri human rights leader Humayun Mirza, senior journalist Awais Qarni, Sher Ali Khalti, Munawwar Hussain, Ms Ayesha Akram, Shahid Aziz, Muhammad Ali , Akmal Bhatti, Afzal Abbas, Shahzad Rauf, Zahid Mehmood, Masood Ahmad and others.

Zaheer Anjum called the PTI government the worst kind of fascist and authoritarian regime that tends to shut down media voices to prevent corruption and bad governance from being exposed. He warned other media house owners were the next target after Mir Shakilur Rahman became the first victim in the suffocating PTI state media policy. He said strangling the entire media would become easy targets for the PTI government when high-ranking media houses would be closed down or badly scaled down. He said media owners must realize that if they don’t empower workers and professional journalists, their own power will be seriously limited, and they will fall easy prey to the ruling elite.

Awais Qarni said the media cannot work for truth without freedom, because the media play a watchdog role for society and the state. He noted that such sacrifices were imposed by dictators such as General Ayub Khan, General Ziaul Haq, General Pervez Musharraf, in the past, and now media workers have fallen victim to Imran Khan. He said the whole world knows the truth that Imran Khan was elected in a sham election and is now proving that he is not a representative of the masses and democracy.

Sher Ali said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s victimization must end and he should be released because his arrest was a symbolic move to seize media freedom. The results desired by the rulers have come out and the arrests have led to the collapse of other media houses and the recent closure of high-profile news outlets and the reduction of workers elsewhere. He said the government is not providing help to people from the economic crisis, but is busy curbing media voices at the expense of media owners. He said Jang Group always reports the truth.

Malik Farooq Awan said Mir Shakilur Rahman was a symbol of freedom of expression and this struggle was not only for his release but also for media freedom in the future. Sher Ali Khalti said Mir Shakil’s arrest was not only a conspiracy against Geo and Jang Group but also a first step to silence all voices of independent media.

In Rawalpindi, Geo-Jang Group journalists and workers staged a protest here on Tuesday against the illegal and unjustified arrest of the Chief Editor of the Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman Group and declared his arrest the victimization and oppression of the government to control the voice of free and free media. independent.

Prior to staging a peaceful demonstration, journalists and workers of the Geo-Jang Group, together with journalists’ organizations, civil society representatives and political workers, pray for the health of Chief Editor Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his mother. Country-wide protests against journalists and Geo-Jang Group workers have continued over the past 214 days against the illegal and unjustified arrest of Chief Editor Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman.

At the protest camp set up outside the Jang and The News offices in Rawalpindi, which has been declared the Way of Freedom, protesters, carrying banners and placards, shouted slogans, demanding the release of Chief Editor Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and in support of media freedom in the country.

Among those present at the protest camp were Secretary General of Pakistan Journalists Union Nasir Zaidi, Chairman of the Joint Action Committee of Geo Workers and Jang Group Islamabad and President of the Rawalpindi Workers Union Nasir Chisti, Resident Editor Jang Rawalpindi Hanif Khalid, Secretary General of Rawalpindi Islamabad Journalists Association and Geo News Islamabad Senior Correspondent Asif Ali Bhatti, Chief Reporter Jang Rawalpindi Rana Ghulam Qadir, Amjad Abbassi, Munir Shah, Nusrat Malik, Kamal Shah, Naseerul Haq, Azhar Sultan, Aslam Butt, Athar Naqvi and social and other political workers, apart from Jang workers and The News.

The protesters are demanding that Pakistan’s Supreme Court give justice to Chief Editor Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and release him. They said the Movement for Justice for Editor-in-Chief would continue until he was released. They said Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was illegally arrested in a case of fake and fabricated 34-year business deals and his arrest was only meant to silence votes for free media.

In Karachi, Pakistan People’s Party leader Dr Muhammad Ismail said the Jang-Geo Group was punished for promoting the truth in its publications and broadcasts. He urged the court to declare Jang-Geo Group Chief Editor Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman detention illegal and release him from prison immediately. He said the government had made a 34-year-old case against Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in an attempt to pressure him into following his demands.

He said the entire PPP supported the protests of employees of the Jang-Geo Group and if Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was not released, they would join the Jang-Geo Action Committee and take to the streets against the cruel restrictions on independent media. He demanded Pakistan’s Supreme Court to pay attention to the seven-month detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a sham case.

Others speaking at the occasion included the secretary general of the Pakistan All Newspaper Employees Confederation Shakil Yamin Kanga, the permanent editor of the Urdu daily Naya Mahaz Ashfaq Warraich, secretary general of the News Workers Union Dara Zafar and APNEC deputy chairman Karachi Rana Yusuf.