When the Cold War was at its peak, I once read that the (now defunct) Soviet Union would be the first nation in the world that would be absolutely tax-free. I don't remember how this noble goal would be achieved, but even then I knew it couldn't be done. The article mentioned, among other things, that paying taxes was very unpopular throughout the world.
I know, of course, that the average Pakistani businessman thinks that all the taxes he pays go into foreign bank accounts, even though that can't be true. I would estimate that about thirty to forty percent of our taxes go into the pockets of corrupt rulers. But perhaps I was wrong, as I saw that in the present government there are some who paid no tax at all, while others (including Imran Khan) apparently didn't pay what they should have paid, considering their lavish lifestyles.
Among those who paid no taxes were Faisal Vawda, Fayyaz Chouhan, Ms Zartaj Gul and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. Faisal Vawda owns many expensive vehicles and has a flourishing business, I wonder if he's ever heard of income tax. I can understand why he and the others didn't pay any income tax, as they think no one can question them. But at least their boss should take them to task. But then, his own favorite (Shah Mahmood Qureishi) paid less than two hundred thousand, so I suppose he won't have the courage to ask his ministers why they are evading taxes.
I was wondering, since Imran Khan talks so much about making Pakistan like Madina, if he knows that the punishment for thieves in those days was the cutting of hands. In fact, even today, thieves do get their hands cut in Saudi Arabia, though it is said that the punishment is mostly meted out to foreign nationals. Once, Ziaul Haque stunned businessmen by saying that he would order the cutting of hands, no matter who the thief was (that included, of course, almost everyone in the audience). I remember that some petty thieves were sentenced to have their hands cut, but after an international uproar, the punishments were not carried out.
So shouldn't Imran Khan, if he really wants to transform the country into a welfare state like Madina, order the cutting of the hands of those of his ministers who didn't pay any tax? Or does he keep saying "Madina, Madina" only to make people think that he's a very good Muslim?
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