December 14, 2008	Sunday	Zilhaj 15, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Dec 13: The Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said the PML-N would continue its cooperation with political forces and would not let the democracy gained after great sacrifices go down the drain.

“This democracy is the result of sacrifices laid down by political forces, civil society, media, lawyers and the people and this valuable asset would not be allowed to be lost,” Mian Shahbaz Sharif said while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the ‘Media Town’.

The mainstream political leadership could not have returned from the exile without the sacrifices and role played by the media, lawyers, civil society and political forces, Shahbaz Sharif admitted and asked the media to rename the Media Town as ‘democratic media town’ since it was started in the era of dictator but completed during the tenure of a democratic government.

The Punjab Chief Minister reiterated his party’s commitment to the restoration of deposed judges. “We shall not sit in peace unless the deposed judges and Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry are reinstated.”

He said the independence of judiciary was part of the PML-N manifesto and “we are under oath to restore the judiciary”. Even today, they are committed and would not compromise on this issue, he said.

Saying that “no society is able to survive without justice,” Mr Shahbaz Sharif announced loud and clear that Pakistan would not be prosperous and developed unless and until the judiciary is made independent.

He said the nation should not lose hope. “We still have the time and the 160 million people have that power to make the country find a berth in the comity of nations within five to ten years by working hard day and night. We have become the atomic power but remained behind in agriculture, industry and the system of justice,” he regretted.

The Punjab Chief Minister assured to give sympathetic view to the issue of payment of installments by journalists. He, however, waived the installments for widows of late journalists and handicapped journalists who made sacrifices for the restoration of democracy and judiciary. He also announced that the Punjab government would accommodate 150 to 200 more journalists in the Media Colony and asked the management of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club to submit him the list of remaining journalists in Lahore.

Earlier, President of Rawalpindi Press Club, Mushtaq Minhas, and President of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) also addressed the meeting and thanked the Punjab Chief Minister for taking interest in the completion of Media Town.

The meeting was attended by a large number of journalists of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and their families.

The Housing Administrative Committee comprising Ishaq Chaudhry, Aasim Rana, Tamash Khan, Jamil Mirza and Jahangir Minhas has made immense contribution for inauguration ceremony of the Media Town.