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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
By Our Correspondent
LAHORE
PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari has said that he is not afraid of any kind of accountability as it is a part of democratic norms to face allegations.
He was talking to a delegation of the Peoples’ Lawyers Forum at the Governor’s House here on Tuesday.
The president said he was ready to give any sacrifice for the sake of democracy, adding that the PPP leaders were accustomed to face such bad phases. He said the party had a tradition of playing a role in national interest and it would follow the same tradition. Politics of the masses was our asset and the party would continue with it, he said and added that the institutions should play their constitutional role to save the democratic system from getting weak due to confrontation among them. He vowed to carry on struggle for protecting the democratic system as per the vision of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
President Zardari said the PPP had always lauded lawyers for their positive role in politics of the country. He said the Peoples Lawyers Forum was an asset to the party and it had supported the party in the worst conditions. He said the federal government had been taking steps for the welfare of lawyers like special grants for the Bar associations and launch of lawyers housing colonies benevolent fund. He said if lawyers arranged a national convention, he would participate in it.
The delegates praised the president for his role in maintaining the writ of the government in northern parts of the country and war on terrorism.
The delegation included PPP Secretary General Senator Jehangir Badr, former parliamentarians SM Masood, Raja Shafqat Hanif Abbasi, senior lawyers Justice (Retd) Malik Saeed Hassan, Khurram Khosa, Rana Sufyan Arshed Khan, Habibullah Shakir and Zulfiqar Butter.
APP adds: President Asif Ali Zardari formed a committee to give recommendations for the revival of film industry in the country during a meeting with a delegation of film artistes and producers at the Governor’s House.
The two-member committee comprised Salman Farooqi, secretary general to the president, and Prof Ijazul Hassan, head of National Task Force on Culture and Heritage.
The delegation, which included Mustafa Qureshi, Reema, Bahar Begum, Ghulam Mohyuddin, Syed Noor and Aslam Dar, apprised the president of the problems which had pushed the industry to the verge of collapse. The president assured the delgates that the government would take measures to give boost the film industry.
He said that the majority of the movie theatres lacked modern facilities and asked the owners to improve facilities to attract audience. He said the government could consider the proposal of providing matching grant as an incentive to film producers in a bid to help the industry come out of crisis. “We can seek support from multinationals companies and can allocate a part of international aid meant for cultural activities to revive the film industry,” he said when his attention was drawn that the industry needed a modern film processing laboratory. He was told that presently Pakistani film makers had to use the film laboratory in India by paying hefty amounts.
The delegation members were of the view that the film industry could serve as an effective medium to highlight the culture of the country, playing a role in curbing terrorism. They said there was a wide scope to highlight the sacrifices made by Pakistani security officials and civilians in the war on terror which would also help in improving image of the country in the world.
Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Punjab Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira and Punjab Minister for Information Farooq Yousaf Gurki were also present.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
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