Death Penalty

 Published in Dawn on March 17, 1998

This refers to "Kot Lakhpat Hanging" (Dawn, March 7).

Even in advanced country like the UK,, a Muslim was hanged for a crime he did not commit and thirty-six years after his death, he was declared innocent. So we shouldn't be surprised if this kind of thing happens in Pakistan also. Surely now is the time for the state to abolish the death penalty, before more innocent people are executed.

SHAKIR LAKHANI

Karachi.

Service to Pakistan

Published in Dawn around 1972-73

 Dr. M. Ibrahim has indeed made a commendable suggestion by advising the Intellectuals and Workers of Pakistan Abroad to use the services of the Institute of Engineers for attaining their noble objectives.

I have another suggestion. Since the country has not yet fully recovered from the recent revages (ravages) of the nature, it would be in the fitness of things if unemployed engineers are utilised on a massive scale in the mammoth reconstruction effort.

The advantages accruing to the nation would be tremendous.The graduate engineer, by virtue of his strenuous training, is readily equipped (to) deal with exigencies the likes of which are certain to be faced when reconstruction begins. And since graduate engineers are also thoroughly trained in economics, their service need not be confined to the engineering aspects only. They can be utilized as accountants as well.

This step will reduce to a considerable extent the chronic unemployment situation among fresh graduate engineers.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

VAT Scheme

 Published in Dawn on September 25 - October 1, 2006

TAXPAYERS generally try to avoid paying taxes, as much as possible, on the assumption that much of the taxes paid by citizens are siphoned off by civil servants. 

Local traders never stop complaining that there is too much taxation and too much of corruption.

To increase tax revenues, the government should seriously consider imposing a five per cent VAT on all retail sales. This will require every retailer to get himself registered with sales tax department. To avoid protests, proper incentives be given. The trick is to reward shopkeepers as well as purchasers.

Under this proposal,  shopkeepers will keep a detailed record of the VAT paid to the government. In a month or so, the government will refund 10 per cent of the VAT amount. 

For the purchaser, the governments should adopt the kind of scheme recently introduced by the Indian state of Kerala and successfully implemented in Taiwan, Turkey and Venezuela. 

The retailer will issue a receipt displaying the amount of sales tax on a particular sale. The shopkeeper will also give the purchase a numbered coupon provided to him by the government (known as "VAT coupon").

These coupons will be of Rs.5 and higher denominations. Every time a person buys commodities worth Rs.1,00 the shopkeeper will give him Rs.5 coupon. For a sale of Rs.1,000 the purchaser will get a coupon of Rs.50. Every week, a draw will be held and the holders or the coupons bearing the winning numbers will be given prizes. If necessary, this scheme can be modified, but the principle may remain the same. 

The purchaser will tend to buy goods only where the coupons are given, which will increase the sales of the registered retailers. Everyone will contribute to the exchequer, except, of course, those who are very poor. Even those items which are smuggled into the country, will be taxed. There is a tremendous potential for increasing revenue receipts , if such a scheme is introduced.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi.

It could happen to you also

 Published in Dawn Magazine on February 22, 1998

YOU NEVER thought it would happen to him. He had been your friend in school, the only son of a millionaire who had always been carefree and fun-loving.

But one day, after you returned from abroad, you were shocked to find him changed. Gone were the designer shirts and jeans, the expensive wrist-watches, the imported shoes. Instead, he was always clad in plain white cotton shalwar-kurta and modest slippers. 

A neighbour told you what had happened: he had become the follower of the Imam of a mosque nearby, according to whom indulging in all forms of entertainment was a sin. So the new convert had smashed all his TV sets and everything else in his house which could result in making him have what his mentor said were "evil" thoughts. 

And since the preacher said the the only books worth reading were those written by him, he got his son admitted to the madressah run by his mentor. And so, instead of playing cricket and preparing for college, the young boy of 14 began to read the mentor's books and listen to his speeches. He gradually became a fanatic. What followed was predictable. 

After a fiery speech by the Imam one Friday, the young boy (not yet 16) went berserk and attacked a couple of neighbours who belonged to another sect. He was lucky no one was killed. When things cooled down, you went over and begged your friend to arrange for the boy to be sent to another town. You told him that the only way to save him was to keep him away from his company. But he only shook his head, and advised you to become a follower of the crank yourself.

By Shakir Lakhani

My fifteen hours in hell

 Published in Dawn Magazine on March 8, 1998

AFTER A MONTH  in the Holy Land you feel that you should now grow a beard. So, although it makes you look ten years older, you stick to it. The beard, plus a tasbih (rosary) in your hand and a grim expression on your face, soon has people regarding you as a wise man and scholar. 

One day, after a late wedding dinner, you ask a friend to drop you at a short distance from your place, as you think a ten-minute walk will do you a world of good. 

After a couple of minutes, a police van appears and they ask you to come with them. You tell them you live a couple of streets away, but they won't budge. 

So you climb into the van, and when you get to the police station, you find it full of other bearded men. It turns out that two foreigners (citizens of a neighbouring country) had been shot that evening, and so the cops had decided to arrest everyone who remotely looked like a fundamentalist. You try to talk to the cops, but no on pays you any attention. You are locked up with the others.     

You spend 15 hours in the stinking black hole before you spot someone you know, a visitor outside the cell. By sign language, for the noise is deafening, you tell him to contact your folks. An hour later a couple of nephews arrive. You seem them distribute money liberally among the cops, and you are allowed to go. You ask them how much they had to dole out for your freedom, but they don't tell you. Later, when you find out, you almost have a heart attack. 

The next day you rush to a barber and have all your facial hair removed. You resolve never to grow a beard again even if it means that you'll fry in hell. Now that you've been to a place worse than hell, you are confident that spending an eternity in the real thing won't be such an ordeal. 

By Shakir Lakhani

Revenge is sweet

Published in Dawn Magazine on July 18, 1999

I HEARD about it when I was in Saudi Arabia, and I have every reason to believe that the story is true. 

Returning home in the dead of night, a foreign executive ran over a young Bedouin and left him bleeding on the ground. He figured that since no one else had seen the accident, no one would guess that he had done it. Little did he know that the locals had their own highly organized network of intelligence agents. Someone in the neighbourhood whose job it was to note such things reported his late arrival, and while he was still in bed the next morning, the police came over and arrested him.

The trial was short and swift. He admitted his guilt and agreed to pay the victim's mother whatever the Qazi decided. But she was firm. "I have not slept a wink since my son's body was brought to me," she said, "and I shall not rest until his killer dies the same horrible death that my boy did." The Qazi urged her to forgive and forget, but to no avail. Finally they told him to be ready to die. 

The next morning he was taken to a courtyard and told to walk toward the centre. He hadn't yet reached the spot when a jeep hit him from behind. As he lay writhing on the ground, the jeep ran over him a couple of times. It took a few minutes for him to die, and all the while the old woman watched him contentedly. When he stopped breathing, she smiled and said, "Now I can sleep in peace."

By Shakir Lakhani

Israeli law targeting Muslims

Targeting Muslims

 

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2026

ACCORDING to an Al-Jazeera report, “... of the Palestinians tried for offences committed in the occupied West Bank, 99.74 per cent were found guilty ... conviction rates for settlers found guilty by civilian courts of committing crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) between 2005 and 2024 ran to about 3pc”. Also, the same channel reported, quoting The Guardian newspaper, that Israel has yet to prosecute any of its citizens for killing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank “since the start of this decade”.

Just imagine, if another country were to sentence only Christians or Jews to death, for any crime, there would have been a huge outcry, with possible sanctions imposed on that country. Even the widely reviled apartheid regimes of South Africa never enacted such a law. Yet, just because it is Israel, Western powers have only voiced mute criticism. This is shameless hypocrisy and double standards at work.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1995120/targeting-muslims

Cashless economy

Published in Dawn on March 15, 2026

THIS refers to the letter ‘Documented economy’ (Feb 23). For obvious reasons, our tax-evading traders, smugglers and other such ‘nation-lovers’ will strongly resist the introduction of a cashless economy. It will surprise the tax collectors to know that there are restaurants in posh areas that have banners showing ‘cash only’ and ‘credit/debit cards not accepted’ announcements. In such cases, the only thing is for tax inspectors to raid such places and seal them.

However, in malls, supermarkets and registered outlets, the government can impose a surcharge on cash payments above Rs2,000, thus increasing its revenue and also encouraging people to pay by credit or debit cards. Payment of utility bills by cheques or through online apps should be encouraged.

People buy groceries worth more than Rs20,000 at a time. Such people will not at all mind paying extra if they are charged five per cent more by the government.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1982278/cashless-economy

Difference between Pakistani & Indian tax collectors

Issues of tax and trust

Published in Dawn, February 26, 2026

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Lavish lifestyles’ (Jan 30), which reminded me of what happened to a Pakistani who had gone to India and set up a business there. In a couple of months, he had saved enough to buy a motorcycle. The subsequent week, he got a notice from the tax department, asking him to explain the means with which he had managed to buy the motorcycle. Of course, the man returned to Pakistan. I remember his remark. “In Pakistan, no one is bothered if you buy 10 luxury vehicles, but over there, you spend Rs25,000 on a motorcycle and the government pounces upon you.”

Perhaps this is the difference between our tax collectors and those across the border. Recently, a dumper truck driver returned illegally earned Rs4 billion to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Why the tax authorities were not able to detect this huge amount looted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)?

There used to be a time when we had an efficient anti-corruption department to whom the common man could confidently report. Unfortunately, people seem to have lost trust in it, perhaps due to fears of their names being divulged to the tax thieves.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1975842/issues-of-tax-and-trust

Gul Plaza fire

DEATH TRAPS

Published in Dawn on January 23, 2026

Embed from Getty Images

THE recent fire at Gul Plaza proves that most buildings in Karachi remain death traps, and that nothing would be done to ensure that such incidents do not happen in the future. Of course, there are people in the government whose duty it is to ensure that buildings are constructed with adequate safety precautions and have at least two emergency exits. There must be those who are required to visit such buildings periodically and ensure that fire prevention SOPs are being observed.

And we can be sure that, on paper at least, such officials have reported that all places they have inspected are safe, just as there are factory inspectors who never visit factories because they are paid to stay away and generate all-good reports.

That said, can everything be blamed on the government? What about the shop-keepers themselves? It has been many years since I last went to Gul Plaza, and I saw that many shopkeepers had kept their goods in the passages leading to the exits. This would have made it very difficult for their customers to quickly get out of the building in an emergency.

As for fire prevention measures, it is simply out of the question. Purchasing fire extinguishers and recharging them every six months is both time consuming and cumbersome. And, in any case, why waste one’s money on frivolous things like fire prevention measures? Right?

Of course, if relevant inspectors had regularly visited the building and imposed fines on errant shopkeepers, this tragedy could have been avoided. But, then, such officials have only one thing in mind: how to speedily recover the money they have paid to get transferred to Karachi, and how to become millionaires in a couple of years. Absolutely tragic.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1968588/death-traps

Karachi's mayor and solar power

Published in Dawn on January 16, 2026

WRONG ESTIMATE: This is with reference to the report ‘Mayor inaugurates Rs900m solar-powered street light project on Sharea Faisal’ (Jan 5), which quoted the Karachi mayor (Murtaza Wahab) as saying that the project would “save Rs25m in electricity bills” every year. I do not know whether to laugh or cry. A simple calculation (900 divided by 25) shows that the payback period for this project is 36 years. Ask anyone who knows the subject, and you will be told that the payback period should be of five years. The city mayor either does not know what he is talking about or someone has minted a lot of money.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1967290/wrong-estimate

Artificial intelligence: a future scenario

A future scenario

Published in DAWN on January 5, 2026

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is speedily becoming very popular as more and more people use it to save time. However, it is now impossible to say with certainty whether a particular video clip is fake or real. We know that there are many people who go berserk when they see videos of their womenfolk dancing or even photos in which they are seen seated next to men who are not their close relatives. What if someone posts a fake video or obscene photo of a woman (who has rejected his advances) on social media and sends it to her relatives?

Things have got so bad that it is now impossible to even talk to others without getting into an argument. If, for example, I mention a video of a cult leader saying something controversial, the immediate response is, “It’s probably AI-generated”. Neither side is in a position to establish authority of the claim in such cases.

Of course, there is a positive side to it also. In school, we were taught that politics and religious topics should be avoided when talking to friends or strangers. So the only safe thing left is sports, like, say, cricket. I know for sure that I would not be lynched if I say that a particular cricketer should not be selected for the next tour.

Certainly, a more serious problem is likely to surface in a few decades from now, when, fortunately I have no chance of being alive. When robots become increasingly like humans in appearance, how will someone know if the man or woman talking to them is real?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1965215/a-future-scenario

A week later on January 12, this was again printed in DAWN (https://www.dawn.com/news/1966445/ais-future).

FBR accountability

Published in DAWN on November 09, 2025

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Untaxed glamour’ (Nov 5), which rightly pointed out that “no one … should be allowed to stay outside the reach of the law”. While the move made by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) against tax dodgers who flaunt their wealth on social media is commendable, what about those who do not use social media and do not pay appropriate taxes, like the shopkeepers in Peshawar’s Karkhano Bazaar and other such markets in the big cities? I have heard some of them say that if any tax collector comes near them, he would be lucky to escape unhurt.

Then there are those who claim to derive their incomes from agriculture and, therefore, proudly say that they are exempted from payment of income tax, hiding behind the façade of a pittance that they pay as provincial agricultural tax.

Such pious men, like retailers and owners of huge and multiple properties, for example, regularly go to the holy land for pilgrimage, but do not register themselves with the tax authorities. They argue that tax rupees mostly enrich the tax collectors and those who rule the country. And, while we are still at it, why not investigate the lifestyle of FBR employees to catch those indulging in corruption?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1954047/fbr-accountability

A different approach (dealing with India)

Published in Dawn on October 12, 2025

WITH the Bihar elections in India due soon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his henchmen are likely to do their best to blame Pakistan for all their failures. They want their people to believe that Pakistan is responsible for all their problems, including the fact that 40 per cent Indians are living below the poverty line, and many children have died after consuming contaminated cough syrups.

I suggest that instead of responding to any threats hurled by Indians, we should stay calm and not respond in kind. The best thing to do, of course, is to pretend that India does not exist, but since that is not possible, we should find an alternative way.

We could, for instance, point out that India could solve most of its problems by reducing its defence budget by half, and spend the money saved to feed its hungry masses. We could suggest that India would be better off buying fighter jets and missiles manufactured in Pakistan instead of France. Of course, the Indian government would not respond, but at least our offer would go some way towards convincing ordinary Indians not to fall for Pakistan-bashing.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1948353/a-different-approach

Disqualified or not

Published in DAWN on April 27, 2013

THE Election Commission of Pakistan has reportedly not disqualified some people who have submitted fake degrees.

One is tempted to ask about the use of Articles 62 and 63 if wrongdoers are not restrained from contesting elections. Knowing the mindset of the majority of our voters (who mostly vote on a caste basis), immoral and corrupt people will be elected again, giving them ample time to loot the country.

The next government should do it immediately.

Shakir Lakhani,

Karachi

Nationalisation of education

Published in Dawn on April 27, 2013

I SEE returning officers behaving like Taliban, when I see lawyers garlanding a man who killed the Punjab governor in full view of the public, when I read of a judge who acquitted three rapists (despite DNA tests proving their guilt) because the rape victim could not produce the mandatory four witnesses to the crime. 

When I see all this, I know that this almost total collapse of society is due to the nationalisation of education by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first and the only civilian martial law administrator of the country.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

UK minister resigns after cheating on property tax

Strange people

Published in DAWN on September 29, 2024 

 

BRITISH deputy prime minister Angela Rayner had to resign recently when it was discovered that she had cheated the government by not paying the full amount of property tax on her apartment. While accepting responsibility is a common practice in certain parts of the world, Pakistani politicians must have been shocked beyond belief. Has anybody heard of ministers in Pakistan paying property tax at all? And why should someone have to resign for something that is the norm in Pakistan? I will not be surprised if some of them believe that this is one of those `London plans` that are concocted every few years to destabilise the government. Pakistan should make it clear to the British government that such resignations are not in Pakistan`s interest, and that nothing of the sort should be allowed the next time one of their ministers is found to have been dishonest.

It is a matter of national interest, after all.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImagae=29_09_2025_007_006

No law for sugar mill owners!

NO LAW FOR MILL-OWNERS: If there is one thing we have learnt from all the past and present sugar crises, it is that no action will ever be taken against those responsible for the soaring prices. Mill-owners want to increase their wealth, buy properties and go on vacations. After all, most of them have spent a lot in getting elected to parliament. We should let them enjoy their illegally obtained wealth and not waste our time and energy in pointing out the rampant corruption around us. It is purely our fault for living in a country where there is one law for them and another for us.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Dawn, September 13, 2025

https://www.dawn.com/news/1941625/no-law-for-mill-owners

 

 

Looting by Mobilink Jazz

Exploitative company

Published in DAWN on September 6, 2025

 

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Damning audit report’ (Aug 23), which, among other things, pointed out that a telecommunication company over-charged its customers to the tune of Rs 6.58 billion in a single financial year.

Over the last couple of years, the same company has been regularly increasing the price of its basic post-paid package, with the result that I am now paying more than twice the amount than what was the case earlier. When asked, its representatives told me that I could now use 15GB of data compared to four in the past, along with 3,500 minutes talking time and 3,000 messages. But I do not want all that. I just want 4GB data and a talking time worth no more than 100 minutes.

Why is there no cheaper package for consumers like me? The official reply is that I can always use a pre-paid package or switch to another cellular company. This is what corporate fraud looks like.

 

Shakir Lakhani 

Karachi 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1940095/exploitative-company

Failure to get Imran Khan freed

A key difference

Published in DAWN on August 17, 2025

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Another attempt’ (Aug 6). The fact that there has been no popular movement to get the jailed opposition party leader freed despite two years of incarceration proves that the party and its leader are not as popular as they believe, or they want others to believe.

They fully expected that United States President Donald Trump would secure his release from prison. That did not happen. They spent millions on lobbying in order to persuade US Congressmen to do the bidding, but to no avail.

Recently, his two sons flew to the US for the same purpose, and returned without any result. They even spent a huge amount placing an advertisement in the New York Times, calling attention to the man’s ‘plight’ and appealing for his release. Where is all this money coming from?

Other Pakistani leaders, past and present, have been jailed for periods much longer than the former prime minister, but they did not go to any such length to secure their release.

And, this is despite the fact that the man has been jailed for corruption after an extended legal process on the basis of tangible evidence that was available against him. Perhaps the other political leaders who were jailed in the past did not have as much wealth as he surely has.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1931427/a-key-difference