Imran Khan pleading for more revenue!

Pleading for revenue 

This (Imran Khan) is the man who pays only fifty dollars per month as income tax and who has proved he cannot be trusted due to frequent U-turns! Not to forget that while in opposition he urged people to refrain from paying taxes by tearing up their utility bills. And how can we forget that he told overseas Pakistanis to use the illegal havala channels to remit money to the country?

https://www.dawn.com/news/1529778/pleading-for-revenue#comments 

Bahria Town

Dawn, January 22, 2020

"the government should establish a regulatory body like Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority". There is one, it used to be known as the Karachi Building Control Authority but renamed with "Sindh" replacing "Karachi" (so that 22 out of 25 directors from outside Karachi could be appointed). And that is exactly why huge frauds like BTK can be perpetrated easily. It should also be remembered that Malik Riaz needs to pay Rs. 460 billion as well as recover another Rs. 40 billion which he had to surrender to the UK Crime Agency. 

  https://www.dawn.com/news/1529809/bahria-town#comments 

Among prime ministers, Imran Khan pays the lowest income tax!

Comment in Dawn, January 10, 2020

Pakistan has the dubious distinction of having a prime minister who pays the lowest tax in the world (fifty dollars a month), besides having agriculturists who are exempted from paying income tax. The assemblies are full of people who are closely related to smugglers (who cause billions of dollars loss every year to the exchequer). So the FBR can't be blamed for shortfall in revenue collection.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1527448

My comment in DAWN re. Faisal Vawda

Shakir Lakhani

November 09, 2019 12:47pm

A PTI minister from Karachi who cannot be named is guilty of massive corruption. He availed the amnesty scheme to declare his UK properties at only ten percent of their values, thus cheating the government by indulging in tax evasion. He's the man who is fond of luxury cars, motorcycles and guns. If IK is really sincere about ridding the country of corruption, he should start with this minister. But he isn't, so he won't.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1515764/undermining-the-na

More provinces- Comments by readers

Shakir Lakhani's suggestion to convert the 27 commissionaries into provinces is a most appropriate response to the restlessness present in various parts of the country (May 22). It is the way forward for our progress as a nation. These provinces, sans assemblies and hordes of ministers, should be headed by governors assisted by a small staff tasked to provide support to the district governments for provision of justice and maintaining law and order. The real governance has to be at the district level. The district governments without any change in their present administrative structure should be made responsible for devising sustainable livelihood programmes, catering to the basic needs of the citizens like food, shelter, education, health facilities etc. and provision of justice.

The revenues generated must be spent on meeting basic needs of citizens rather than adding to the wealth of the present lot of provincial assembly members, ministers, advisers, chief ministers etc. This will also address concerns of those who fear that creating more provinces will increase expenditure. It would rather drastically reduce expenses because of doing away with the present useless infrastructure at the provincial level. The tribal areas should be integrated into the new provinces to end duplicity in governance which has resulted in the establishment of terrorist networks in these areas.

Colonel (r) Nazir Ahmed

Islamabad

*****

Shakir Lakhani has given examples of many countries in support of his argument for more provinces. But the examples are not relevant in case of Pakistan. Financially, we are a bankrupt country with over $ 90 billion debt that keeps increasing every day. We have never been able to manage our financial affairs. How on the earth will we run more provinces? More provinces will mean that we have a fleet of governors, chief ministers, ministers and advisers and their administrative setups. Who is going to fund them? The federal government has yet to pay Rs100 billion to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Creating more provinces will only be disastrous for the country.

The solution does not lie in creating more provinces. It is good governance that matters. The system of governance needs a complete overhaul. Unless it is replaced completely there will be no improvement. Look at the volume of our provincial and federal cabinets and their expenditures. By creating more provinces, without any financial backup, we will only increase our dependence upon foreign grants and loans by the IMF. Who will repay that debt and the yearly interest? We have failed to manage even four provinces and have made a mess of everything. Let us not do something that would only lead to total anarchy and destruction.

Lt-Col (r) Mukhtar Ahmed Butt

Karachi

*****

The suggestion by Shakir Lakhani to create more provinces, if implemented, will bring much improvement in the country by ensuring more jobs and better education and health care systems with an improved judicial system.

Nayab Oqaab

Ontario, Canada

Indian Hindus & Pakistani Muslims

Posted on blog (DAWN.com) March 24th, 2009 

Shakir Lakhani says:

I have always been a committed secularist in that I do not believe in discriminating against minorities. But when I see the hatred displayed by Indian Hindus against Pakistanis, I’m appalled. I always regretted that my father had migrated to Pakistan in 1947, leaving behind his house and belongings. He always told me that after Partition, Muslims could not feel safe in India. This has been proved by the massacre of Muslims in Gujrat and during communal riots in India (this has never happened in Pakistan after a few incidents in 1947). Recently Varun Gandhi’s threat to Muslims makes me wonder if there is such a thing as a secular Indian Hindu. By the way, Pakistani Hindus are treated well by the Muslims (my own family doctor is a Sindhi Hindu). As far as the disputes between India and Pakistan are concerned, relations have been exacerbated mostly by India. Invasion of J&K, Junagadh, Hyderabad, blocking of river water in 1948 and again last year, massing of troops on the border with threats of invasion, maintaining 13 consulates in Afghanistan (with which it has no border) to destabilize Pakistan. In fact, if I were an Indian, I would wonder why the Indian government spends so much money on the thirteen Afghan consulates or sending rockets to the moon and not doing anything to feed the 836 million hungry Indians who live on Rs. 20 (40 U.S. cents) per day!