Mother of all U-turns: Why is PTI protecting tax evaders instead of punishing them?

Published in the Express Tribune blogs on March 12, 2019 

If the government really wishes to increase tax revenue, all it has to do is to give a deadline to these businesses.

I suppose we should have expected it, being used to so many U-turns by now. Asad Umar reversed a good tax-collecting measure introduced by the previous government, a measure that would have brought many tax criminals into the net. Instead, bowing to pressure from the powerful auto industry, he has allowed non-filers to buy vehicles of all sizes. Non-filers, it should be noted, do not pay income tax nor do they file tax returns. By law, they should be punished, instead they are allowed to pay just 0.6% tax on the amount they spend to buy property or vehicles, or when they withdraw more than Rs. 50,000 from banks. The good minister should have increased the tax to at least one percent, to be levied on all transactions, as well as reducing the allowable limit of withdrawing money to Rs. 10,000. But it seems that tax evaders can get away with anything and everything in this Islamic republic.

According to another report, the PTI government is thinking of an amnesty scheme to let tax thieves enjoy the fruits of their illegal activities. Another amnesty scheme? Has Imran Khan already forgotten what he said about amnesty schemes less than a year ago? Will this be the mother of all U-turns? Amnesty schemes allow money launderers to whiten their ill-gotten wealth, at the same time making honest taxpayers wonder why they should pay up to thirty percent tax on their incomes, when looters take advantage of amnesties and pay only two percent.

A day after Finance Minister Asad Umar presented the recent mini-budget, a national newspaper carried this poignant news item “As revenue shortfalls bite, PM beseeches business leaders to pay taxes “Beseech”, meaning “beg”? Why does Imran Khan have to beg businessmen to pay what they have to pay, as per the laws of the country? In any event, businessmen alone cannot be blamed for the revenue shortfall faced by the nation. All governments (including the present one) are responsible for our predicament. The reasons why we are a poor country are many, first and foremost being the blanket financial immunity given to smugglers, agriculturists, unscrupulous importers, traders and others to loot the country.

Smuggling has flourished ever since the 1960s, when “bara” markets in Landi Kotal and other towns were allowed to sell smuggled goods like cloth and electronic items on which no duty or taxes had been paid. In Karkhano Bazaar of Hayatabad in Peshawer, you can see smuggled goods flagrantly displayed in thousands of shops. I once asked a shop owner there if he’d ever paid income tax or sales tax. I’ll never forget how he laughed when he said, “No tax collector dares come here, he knows he won’t go back alive”. All Imran has to do is to order a crackdown on this and the “bara” markets in all cities, and collect billions in sales and income tax every year. But I doubt if he has the wisdom to do so, considering that almost all smugglers belong to the province which his party has been governing for the past six years.

The same goes for our feudal lords (the agriculturists), who are exempted from paying income tax at all, despite getting virtually free water, besides having huge loans written off every couple of years. The biggest crooks among them are the sugar barons who are easily able to get elected to our assemblies and use their power to go on looting the nation. A tax of Rs.20 per kilo of sugar can yield more than a hundred billion rupees every year, as sugar production in the country varies between five million to seven million tons.

Unscrupulous importers (in connivance with Customs officials) deprive the government of billions every year. In a recent case, a container bearing goods described as “old and used auto parts” was examined and found to contain cellphones, tablets, satellite and dish receivers, CCTV cameras, copper refrigerators tubes, ball bearings, circuit breakers, finger print scanners, and dialysis machines. If the container had not been examined, the importer would have got away with Rs. 60 million. There are thousands of such cases every year, which are either undetected or deliberately allowed to be cleared by the corrupt Customs officials. Even when someone is caught, he is only made to pay the duty and a token fine. In such cases, the FIA should investigate all previous imports by the offender and make him pay duties and heavy penalties on those consignments as well.

Imran says he may create a new tax collecting authority in place of the FBR. But has he ever thought of investigating why the FBR is not able to deliver? Two cases come to mind. Many years ago, the Chairman FBR set up a team to monitor the sales of a famous market in Lahore. The shopkeepers became suspicious when they saw members of the team taking notes on the sales being made and estimating the stock of goods in the shops. Within a few minutes, the team was withdrawn, after the FBR chairman received calls from the ruling party MNAs. Another case is that of a restaurant in Karachi, whose owner contacted powerful people when the shop’s records were seized. Within a couple of hours, the tax authorities returned the computers and files. How can you expect the FBR to function in such circumstance? By all means, go ahead and create a new tax agency, but don’t expect it to succeed, unless it is headed by foreign specialists and managers. Why can’t we have this? We do have foreign coaches for our cricket teams, don’t we?

And what can the FBR do when the government itself does nothing to punish land grabbers and the mafia of builders? It’s the same old story, those who’re rich and powerful remain free, while the poor have their houses demolished without even adequate notice.

As for corruption, this government appears to be like a fish out of water. It is estimated that corruption in the country amounts to Rs. 12 billion per day. It’s been almost seven months since PTI came into power, yet they’ve done nothing to stop it (otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a revenue shortfall). They can take the first step to curb this menace by demonetizing 5,000 rupee notes, and all prize bonds (ranging from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 40,000). This will make it very difficult for the corrupt to take bribes. Only those who have declared cash and prize bonds in their tax returns should be allowed to surrender the notes and bonds those who haven’t done so should be asked how they earned the amount.

Today, there are estimated to be five to six million businesses in the country but only a hundred thousand (or just two percent) are registered with the sales tax department. If the government really wishes to increase tax revenue, all it has to do is to give a deadline to all businesses (operating in offices and shops) to get registered with sales tax departments and pay tax. Again, this will require vision and determination, which unfortunately the finance minister does not appear to have.

It really isn’t difficult for the government to bridge the current deficit. Imran should really go after and punish those who are evading taxes, even if means punishing those who support his party. The choice is yours, PM Imran: take tough decisions, don’t surrender to the tax thieves, don’t give them amnesty, in fact punish them for their crimes and see how the revenue shoots up. Otherwise, you too will be remembered as just another mediocre leader who had the chance to change the face of the country but failed to do so.

"Udhar tum, idhar hum": When Bhutto pushed Bangladesh to the edge of Pakistan

Published in the Express Tribune Blogs on December 17, 2018

The fall of Dhaka is one of those events in our history that we'd rather forget. No one talks about it nowadays, as it was the result of our own follies. But those who are still alive will never be able to forget TV newscaster Shaista Jabeen's tearful announcement that dreadful night in December:

"According to an agreement, Indian soldiers have now taken control of Dhaka"

The people in what remained of Pakistan were shocked beyond belief. For days they had been told that everything was normal in the eastern wing, despite the BBC giving a contrasting picture. As always, the reaction from those who mattered was that BBC was an Indian agent, presenting a false image of the situation. No wonder violent protesters came out on the streets and burned down then President Yahya's house in Peshawer after feeling betrayed due to the surrender.

Most Pakistanis who were born after 1965 probably don't know that our country had a province called East Pakistan, where the Pakistan Movement started with the birth of the Muslim League in 1905. The people in that province were as good Pakistanis as we in West Pakistan were, yet to our eternal shame, they were denied what was rightfully theirs. We made fun of them, of the way they spoke, of their language and attire. Most of the income for Pakistan was contributed from East Pakistan; however, the money was spent to develop West Pakistan. Despite all of this discrimination, we were surprisingly astounded when we found out they didn't want to remain a part of Pakistan. To be honest, the only surprising thing in this should be that Pakistan was able to remain united for 25 years before being dismembered.

There are many versions of why we lost East Pakistan, depending on who you ask. However, one thing is for sure: it didn't happen overnight. It took many years for the people of East Pakistan to decide that there was no future for them in a united Pakistan.

Perhaps it all began when Muhammad Ali Jinnah, despite the hostility of the students of Dhaka University he was addressing, insisted that "Urdu and only Urdu" would be the state language of Pakistan. This was strange, since the Quaid himself could only speak broken Urdu and that too with great difficulty. I strongly suspect that Jinnah wanted Urdu as the national language because he was under pressure from the feudal lords of West Pakistan to do so. The only other reason would be that he didn't know that the vast majority of the people in East Pakistan didn't speak Urdu or even understood it, which seems highly unlikely.

Thus began the process of poisoning relations between the two parts of the country. The Bengali speakers began a movement to have their language recognized as the state language along with Urdu. After many deaths, they succeeded to have their demand accepted in 1956.

But the rot had begun.

It didn't help that the country had no constitution before 1956. By a peculiar twist of logic, despite East Pakistan comprising the majority (56%), they were allowed to have the same number of seats in the assembly as the people of West Pakistan. The first martial law in 1958 (which was imposed by a general belonging to West Pakistan) together with the fact that East Pakistanis were not as many in number in the central government and the services increased their feeling of isolation. When it was time for Ayub Khan to resign, the Constitution required that he should hand over power to the speaker of the National Assembly (Abdul Jabbar Khan, a Bengali). However, Ayub did not do so and instead asked the then Army Chief (Yahya Khan) to take over the reins of the country. This further alienated the people of East Pakistan, adding to their bitterness of being neglected.

Pakistan could have remained united if its rulers had accepted Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman as the prime minister, which was his legal right as his party had won the 1970 elections. Despite this, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, whose party had won the elections in Sindh and Punjab, did not agree to recognize Rahman as the prime minister of the country, He also steadfastly refused to attend the National Assembly session which was to be held in Dhaka. In fact, he was so arrogant that he threatened to break the legs of his elected party members if they dared to go to Dhaka. He knew that he could never be the prime minister of a united Pakistan, so he even said,

"Udhar tum, idhar hum"

(You rule in the east, we will rule in the west).

Bhutto claimed that Rahman's demand for maximum autonomy, called the Six Points, would weaken the country. When President Yahya called Rahman the future Prime Minister of the country, Bhutto was incensed. He questioned how a man who was considered a traitor recently was touted as  the prime minister.

Despite his claims there are indications that Rahman did not want the breakup of the country. After his release from jail in 1969, he said, "We are in the majority, why should we secede?"

According to Dr, Moonis Ahmer, Rahman asked the military authorities twice in 1971 ro protect him from the diehard members of his party as they wanted him to declare independence.

As for the 1971 war, our soldiers could have defended Dhaka for more than three months, if the government had stationed more troops in that city. But the army was spread out throughout the province, and despite having enough ammunition and weapons to last them many months, there was no option but to surrender. 

Again, we lost the opportunity to save the country when Bhutto reportedly went to the United Nations but deliberately confined himself to his hotel room for two days (it is widely believed that he did this to allow the Indian army to have more time to reach the gates of Dhaka). If he had really wanted to save Pakistan, he would not have dilly-dallied, but would have accepted the Polish Resolution calling for a cease fire (instead, he tore it up and walked away).

From the looks of it, Bhutto was mainly responsible for the great tragedy. In fact, if you think of it, all the problems we face today are a direct result of what he said and did after the 1970 elections and after he assumed charge of the country in 1971. He said he would build a new Pakistan from the ruins of the old one but instead caused immense damage to the country. But that is a story for another time.

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/75627/udhar-tum-idhar-hum-when-bhutto-divided-pakistan-into-east-and-west/ 

 

For how long will you blame the previous government for your failures, PTI?

Published in the Express Tribune blogs on October 6, 2018

Embed from Getty Images

PTI voters were convinced that all our taxes are siphoned out of the country and deposited in foreign bank accounts or used to buy property in Dubai. They were told that just by arresting a few civil servants and tax-evaders, the change PTI promised would happen overnight. The 16.8 million people who voted for PTI actually expected miracles within a very short time of their party coming into power. As even a layman knows, miracles do not happen overnight. Yet his charisma is so great that Imran was able to persuade his simple followers that he was the chosen one, the man who would be able to make their dreams come true. Some PTI voters even believed that the dollar would soon be available for Rs40, and asked everyone they knew to sell all the dollars they had. As the sycophantic Senator Faisal Jawed said, “As long as Imran Khan exists, Pakistan exists.”

Apparently he forgot that Pakistan existed long before Imran was even born.

Alas, the miracle has not occurred, and there is no evidence that it will occur in the near future. The dollar has appreciated against the rupee (and is expected to be worth around Rs140 in the next two or three months). The stock exchange index continues to fall, and the economy itself appears to be in free-fall. The State Bank has raised the interest rate by 1%, and a further hike is expected, which will result in massive inflation. Growth rate is expected to slow down to 4.8%, if not lower.

Despite Imran proclaiming loudly that he will not go begging to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), his finance minister is doing just that. So, really, there is no difference between this government and the ones that came before. Gas prices have been raised and with electricity bills sure to increase, we are all in for a nightmare.

How does one expect PTI to fulfill its promises regarding the country’s economy when they are going back on everything their party stood for? How can anyone believe in them after watching them turn into the same people they were criticising previously? In the first few weeks of being in power, PTI’s priorities have been such that you wonder if they even know what really matters in the country. Firstly, there was the question of where the prime minister would live. He had said that he would not live in the PM house and that it would be converted into a university. So he decided to live in the quarters of the military secretary (which incidentally is part of the PM house colony). He may be fooling the people who voted for him, but he is not fooling the rest of the country.

Then there was the matter of protocol, which Imran highly detested. But the protocol continues to be in force, whether it is for him, for the president or his ministers. He also went back on his promise to not go abroad in the first three months of coming into power. He said he would travel on commercial flights and not travel in business class. But in the very first month of assuming office, he travelled to Saudi Arabia in an official Air Force plane and also took along plenty of ministers and others with him, a practice he used to criticise when he was in opposition.

"PM Imran Khan reaches Saudi Arabia on his first official foreign visit: he is accompanied by few cabinet members, including foreign minister @SMQureshiPTI and finance minister @Asad_Umar. #PMIK @ImranKhanPTIpic.twitter.com/1MTZ7k8dLC

— PTI (@PTIofficial) September 18, 2018"

They also had a justification for their helicopter travel adventures. Fawad Chaudhry’s claim that a helicopter requires only Rs55 to take the prime minister from his home in Bani Gala to the prime minister’s house, only proves that the intelligence of everyone associated with PTI can be questioned. I even suspect that when they say ‘billion’, they really mean ‘crore’ (10 million).

Furthermore, PTI and its leader always claimed they are against dynastic rule, but unfortunately they accept anything when it comes to their party. Close friends of the prime minister have been named ministers and advisors, which makes us wonder, where is the merit now? Some of these include Naeemul Haq, Aleem Khan (under investigation by NAB), Awn Chaudhry and Zulfi Bukhari (despite being a British national, as well as under investigation for being in the Panama Leaks scandal and owning offshore properties).

Recently, Umar removed the ban on non-filers to buy vehicles and property, which shocked the country. Then he re-imposed the ban, only allowing overseas non-filer Pakistanis to buy property. But with the current volatile situation in the country and with the government backtracking on every measure it announces, how can overseas Pakistanis trust Imran, especially after his treatment of Atif Mian, a respected figure in international circles?

In the end, after all this mayhem and the inability of PTI to fulfill its promises, Chaudhry blames the previous government for PTI’s failures. This may help in the short term, but sooner or later, those who voted for the ruling party will be disillusioned and they will wonder whether the previous government was in fact better, or if following this whole ‘choosing the lesser evil’ mantra was a good idea. So unless this government takes drastic steps to improve the situation, people may come out on the streets protesting against false promises and impending price hikes.

The government needs to change its ways but while it fixes its problems, the country needs to be put first. Our economy is in shambles, we cannot afford to make mistakes anymore. The filing of returns should be made mandatory and there should be strict punishment for non-filers and tax thieves. Smuggling is a curse that has drowned this country in poverty. Just raiding the shops in Karkhano Bazaar in Peshawar, and all those markets in Karachi and other cities selling smuggled items will earn billions for the government. Taking the electricity and gas thieves to court and penalising them heavily, besides putting them in jail, will put the fear of God in others and will be another huge source of revenue. The biggest revenue-earner will be the property sector, which has Rs7 trillion of black money invested in it. Some property price manipulators will have to be arrested and tried, but it will be worth it, even if a few of them are PTI donors.

But does this government have the will to do all of this? I doubt it. It will continue floundering like a sinking ship until the inevitable happens (as has happened so many times in the past), and a new government takes over.

By Shakir Lakhani

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/72646/for-how-long-will-you-blame-the-previous-government-for-your-failures-pti/

They say the gas price hike will not affect the common man, but that’s not true

Published in The Express Tribune blogs on September 25, 2018

They say the gas price hike will not affect the common man, but that’s not true.

At no other time in Pakistan’s recent history were people’s expectations as high as they were after the 2018 General Elections. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and his associates had practically promised the moon to the masses in their pre-election campaign.

Murad Saeed had even guaranteed that half of the $200 billion in foreign bank accounts of corrupt Pakistanis, would be brought back within two days after the formation of his party’s government. But Imran Khan rewarded this fake degree holder and miracle man (who had allegedly given and passed three exams in just half an hour) by making him a minister in his cabinet.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1023777795929989121

@omar_quraishi

https://twitter.com/omar_quraishi/status/1023777795929989121

Murad Saeed saying before the election that on the next day after being elected Imran Khan will bring back half the $200 billion that Pakistanis have stashed abroad

However, people still looked at the bigger picture and expected much from Finance Minister Asad Umar when he presented the mini-budget recently. They thought he would announce measures to check inflation and even announce reduction in prices of essential items. Sadly, this was not the case. On the contrary, the government’s decision to increase gas prices substantially will only lead to an escalation of prices overall. It sounds unbelievable, but the finance minister and others insist that the effect on the common man will be almost negligible, saying

“A customer who pays Rs252 per month on average will now rise to Rs275.”

That may be true, but that same consumer has to use public transportation, eat food, drink tea, for which he will have to pay more every month.

Take, for instance, the daily wage earner who subsists on Rs8,000 to Rs12,000 per month (yes, such people are in the majority, those who do not even earn the minimum wage of Rs15,000). The unskilled labourer who works as a helper to a mason or an electrician, for instance, has to travel to work in buses which run on gas. He will have to pay at least Rs10 (if not more) every day in bus fare. He and his family buy at least five tandoori rotis, which means another Rs10 expense every day. He will have to pay more for electricity, at least around Rs50 per month, as gas is the main fuel used in power houses.

Moreover, it seems that the finance minister is not aware of how energy prices affect other sectors of the economy. The present gas price increase will make it more expensive than petrol. The CNG structure will collapse, leading to thousands being unemployed. Vehicle owners will stop using gas; some of them have already switched over to petrol. This will surely result in an increase in import of petrol. My relatives in the garment manufacturing sector say that gas is used for dyeing, ironing and other processes. During power breakdowns, they use gas generators to produce electricity. All of this will affect their cost of production. The current account deficit will widen, further devaluation of the rupee will become inevitable, leading to increased prices of all commodities.

Even though PTI claims that exports will not suffer, manufacturers think differently. Tile manufacturers, for instance, have said that the decision to increase gas prices would not only affect the sale of tiles in local and global markets but would also have a negative impact on direct and indirect employment of over 50,000 in the local tiles industry.

What’s really surprising is that Umar himself vehemently opposed increase in gas prices during the previous government’s tenure. When gas prices were raised during Nawaz Sharif’s reign, he attacked the government, saying that international prices of gas had decreased and were only a third of what they had been before. In 2016, 2017 and even in 2018, Umar blamed the Nawaz government for raising prices so much that they were the highest in the region. Although he later claimed that international prices of gas had risen in the span of 15 months, hence, they had to raise the prices.

https://twitter.com/omar_quraishi/status/1043398179125977088

omar r quraishi ✔@omar_quraishi Asad Umar kay badaltay huaye rang ...

12:14 PM - Sep 22, 2018 

However, it is still interesting that the first thing this government does to generate revenue is increasing gas prices, instead of taking other better measures which would have served the purpose (like cracking down on smugglers and tax evaders perhaps).

The truth is, gas prices have been raised to bail out the gas companies, which are in trouble due to inefficient management. So why should we, the already heavy tax payers, be punished for no fault of our own? The prime minister was persuaded to agree to this whopping price increase.

When Imran was told that gas worth Rs50 billion a year is being stolen, he asked them to submit a plan to stop the theft. Now this is shocking. Why should he have to tell them to do their job in the first place? What had they been doing all this time? And surely Imran as well as Umar have known for a long time that it is in the PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province where quite a lot of gas is stolen. Just catching gas thieves of Karak and other parts of K-P should go a long way to solve the problems gas companies are facing. Even in Balochistan, the gas companies are doing nothing to stop the theft of gas.

Gas theft in Pakistan is 14-15% and compared to global gas markets, where even benchmarks for unaccounted gas is under 2.6%, this is shockingly high. Imran used to talk a lot about accountability. He should start right here, catch the gas thieves and save billions every year instead of raising prices.

If no action is taken to eliminate gas theft, should we not conclude that the PTI leadership thinks by doing so it would lose its vote bank and their government will collapse? Umar should take immediate action against the gas thieves if he wants to take the country out of this financial crisis. Failure to do so would be worse than doing nothing. Not eliminating gas theft may result in temporarily saving PTI’s government, but in the end it would mean disaster for the country.

By Shakir Lakhani

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/72164/they-say-the-gas-price-hike-will-not-affect-the-common-man-but-thats-not-true/

Why Kalabagh Dam is not the answer to our water woes

Published in the Express Tribune blogs on June 25, 2018

A few days back, my views on the futility of Kalabagh Dam published in a national daily evoked a very strong and hostile reaction from many people. I had posed a simple and pertinent question: 

 “If, as is evident, Pakistan will have very little water in future, what will we fill Kalabagh Dam with?” 

Some people said Pakistan will have enough water forever, while others called me an enemy agent. Before delving deeper into why the dam should not be constructed, I would like to share my own experience of water consumption. 

 Up until 10 years back, I had no idea how much water my family was using, nor was I bothered when I saw it being wasted. This was because the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) charges domestic consumers a fixed amount every month, irrespective of consumption, based upon the floor area of each house. So a large house owner has to pay much more than a small apartment owner, even if only two people live in the large house and the small house has 10 occupants. 

However, when I moved into my present apartment (where a meter records water consumption), I found that on an average, each member of my family was consuming 50 gallons daily (including water used for bathing and washing clothes and dishes). During the hot summer months, my water bill shoots up to Rs15,000 a month. This is because water is either obtained from tankers or from a reverse-osmosis plant set up near my apartment block to supply water to 720 apartments. 

So, when I read about Pakistan running out of water in the next few years due to receding glaciers and highly reduced rain due to global warming, as well as the diversion of our water by India, I thought it would be good if our people could be compelled to save water. One way of doing that would of course be to make people pay for actual consumption, rather than recover a fixed amount based on the space occupied by their houses. Of course, most of the water of our rivers is consumed for agriculture, so it is essential to train farmers to reduce wastage of water.

A lot of people argue that Kalabagh Dam is the answer to all our water-related problems. My arguments against building it stem from many statistics and examples available to me. It has been known for a long time that huge dams cause great environmental damage, besides being very expensive and construction requiring a very long time. For example, even though the foundation stone of the $11 billion Diamer Bhasha Dam was laid in 2011, but construction has not yet started.

Besides contributing to global warming, dams have resulted in the decimation of fish species, displacement of people, desertification of areas near the coast, and changing the ecology of the planet by trapping sediment which is needed by deltas to support vegetation. The intrusion of the sea and destruction of agricultural land in lower Sindh is a direct result of dams and hydropower projects upstream.

According to International Rivers:

“The livelihoods of many millions of people also suffer because of the downstream effects of dams: the loss of fisheries, contaminated water, decreased amounts of water and a reduction in the fertility of farmlands and forests due to the loss of natural fertilisers and irrigation in seasonal floods. Dams also spread waterborne diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. Opponents also believe that the benefits of dams have frequently been deliberately exaggerated and that the services they provide could be provided by other more efficient and sustainable means.” It should be obvious that another huge dam upstream would deal a death blow to Sindh.

One argument in favour of large dams is that hydropower is much cheaper than other conventional options available. But I’d like to argue that the cost of electricity from solar cells has reduced considerably in recent years and is expected to be lower in future and this could be used instead. Moreover, even though hydropower is very cheap, the opportunity cost of it is a lot higher.

“Hydropower should not be considered as clean power because of the destruction of river ecosystems and its many social impacts. Internationally, private investors in power projects are largely avoiding large dams and prefer to invest in cheaper and less risky gas-fired power plants.”

In fact, about 1,000 dams are being dismantled in the US to restore rivers to their original pristine condition.

Gradually, electricity from solar panels is becoming popular. In future, most houses, farms and factories will be able to produce virtually free electricity.

Instead of building the dam (which would alienate the people of three provinces and leave our children and grandchildren to pay the loan of billions plus interest), we should look at the wastage of water by our farmers. Worldwide, rice requires 2,500 litres of water to produce one kilogram, but in Pakistan, we use twice that amount of water. As for sugar, our farmers use 7,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of sugar, whereas in other countries only 1,500 litres of water is used to grow the same amount of sugar!

Not only is this a criminal wastage of water, sugar is one commodity which we should learn to use economically. It’s bad for health, it requires an immense amount of storage, and it is highly subsidised. It therefore has a negative impact on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); it actually makes the country poorer.

Instead of providing so much subsidy and other benefits for sugar production, the government should provide the same facilities for growth of valuable crops like canola, sunflower and other edible crops. Unfortunately, this seems to be a lost cause as a lot of politics is involved here. Most of our filthy rich politicians are sugar mill owners, who get bank loans written off and pay very little tax. They are, of course, able to do this because they are in the Parliament and they decide how much tax we should pay (while paying negligible amount of taxes themselves).

Moreover, our farmers should take up drip irrigation, which can raise production significantly using the same quantity of water. srael is the pioneer in this field, and in India,it has been adopted successfully in many states, resulting in saving water for more irrigation.

Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries rely completely on sea water desalination plants for providing water for drinking and agriculture. Why not try this in Pakistan? Initially, sufficient water for Karachi and coastal areas can be produced by setting up large desalination plants. Later, such plants can be built to provide water for agriculture. The face of Sindh and Balochistan will be changed forever, providing livelihood and food for the poor and impoverished people.

Hence, those who are insisting on making Kalabagh Dam should consider that besides measures to reduce water wastage, there are cheaper alternatives available worldwide to produce electricity and water. The Kalabagh Dam will only leave a huge debt for future generations, besides doing irreversible damage to the environment. 

By Shakir Lakhani

Engineer, former visiting lecturer at NED Engineering College, industrialist, associated with petroleum/chemical industries for many years. Loves writing, and (in the opinion of most of those who know him), mentally unbalanced. He tweets @shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani)

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/68503/why-kalabagh-dam-is-not-the-answer-to-our-water-woes/

Imran Khan is right, Pakistan should have more than four provinces

Published in the Express Tribune Blogs on May 21, 2018 

Whenever I make any comments about Pakistan having more provinces and smaller units, the reaction is always the same,

“You want to divide the country? Are you a RAW agent or what?”

So when Imran Khan promised the creation of a South Punjab, it was a pleasant surprise to hear him say something intelligent for once. Imran made this promise recently as he welcomed turncoats from South Punjab into his party; defectors who enjoyed the perks and privileges of being MNAs for the past five years while saying nothing about creating a new province, until now.

Whenever I make any comments about Pakistan having more provinces and smaller units, the reaction is always the same,

“You want to divide the country? Are you a RAW agent or what?”

So when Imran Khan promised the creation of a South Punjab, it was a pleasant surprise to hear him say something intelligent for once. Imran made this promise recently as he welcomed turncoats from South Punjab into his party; defectors who enjoyed the perks and privileges of being MNAs for the past five years while saying nothing about creating a new province, until now.

>

While supporting the demand by the Janoobi Punjab Suba Mahaaz (JPSM) for a South Punjab province, Imran said,

“I believe that it is very difficult to administer big units.”

He went on to say,

“The power is centred in Lahore and there is a growing sense of deprivation in south Punjab areas.”

So according to Imran, and rightly so, Punjab should be divided. But if he really is sincere when he says the country should have more provinces, why does he want the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P)? Why not have more provinces to make K-P itself more manageable? And why does he say nothing about Sindh being divided into smaller provinces as well?

In fact, when it comes to Karachi, Imran holds a diametrically opposite view:

“Karachi cannot be a separate province,” he said.

He knows that if he says otherwise, his party will get no votes from the rural areas of Sindh. So it seems Imran is just paying lip service to the cause of smaller provinces, and he will continue to do so as long as his party remains in the opposition.

Devolution of power by having more provinces is good for democracy and strengthens the country. Unfortunately, neither Nawaz Sharif nor Asif Ali Zardari want power to be given to local bodies. The Sharif brothers have spent more than half of Punjab’s budget on the beautification of Lahore, whereas the less is said about Sindh, the better.

Although Karachi contributes most of the revenue for its province, hardly anything is spent on the city, and the mounds of garbage accumulating have made it the dirtiest city in the region. Of course, if even some of the revenue contributed by the people of Karachi had been spent on the welfare of the city, would the rulers of Sindh have been able to siphon away billions to foreign countries? After all, Rs2 billion in cash was allegedly recovered from a raid at Information Minister Sharjeel Memon’s house. Where did he get such a huge amount of money, and that too in cash?

One problem faced by the common man is that the rulers are inaccessible to the public at large. Gwadar is about 800 kilometres from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, while Zhob is about half that distance from Quetta. People in these two cities have to spend a considerable amount of time to get their personal problems heard by ministers. Similarly, Multan is 300 kilometres away from Lahore, and the distance between the Kashmore District and Karachi is 600 kilometres.

Dividing the country into more provinces could ease the problems faced by its people, as having more provinces will bring the seats of the government closer to the citizens.

There is no reason why Pakistan (with more than 200 million people) should have only four large administrative units. Having four provinces made sense in 1947, when the population was only 30 million. Switzerland has a population of eight million, less than half of Karachi’s, yet it is divided into 26 parts, known as cantons. No wonder Switzerland is one of the most efficient societies in the world.

Turkey, with a population of 81 million, has 81 provinces, while Taiwan, with 23 million, has 22. Having only four provinces has encouraged corruption and ensured Pakistan remains backward and underdeveloped. This situation cannot continue for long, and unless more provinces are created, the people will be forced to come out on the streets.

Those who live in Karachi know what it is to have rulers who know nothing about their problems. The city used to have a Karachi Building Control Authority once, which was the largest contributor to its revenue. The greedy rulers of the province, belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), renamed it to the Sindh Building Control Authority so they could have control over this lucrative department. Out of the 27 directors of this moneymaking entity, 22 are outsiders posted in Karachi, no doubt after paying a handsome sum to get the job.

In fact, practically all those who preside over Karachi’s destiny have had their origins in other cities of Sindh. Consequently, you meet very few genuine Karachiites working in the departments of the Sindh government. Most policemen in Karachi are unable to make themselves understood because they cannot speak the national language fluently, as they have spent their lives in villages and small towns far away from Karachi and have been appointed for being party activists. If Karachi were made a separate province, its elected ministers would be aware of what the people need, and since they would be easily accessible to voters throughout the year, they would ensure that taxes paid by the people are spent wisely and not siphoned away into foreign bank accounts.

I have no doubt that in every provincial capital, government servants are appointed by ministers from their own constituencies and not on merit. Conversely, having more provinces would mean more employment for those who are residents, and street crime would decrease as a result.

Ideally, all those cities or divisions with populations between 10 and 20 million should be made provinces. Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Hyderabad, Multan and Rawalpindi would all fall under this category. The cities having less than a million residents can be merged with smaller neighbouring towns to make more provinces. Due to its small population and large area, the present six divisions of Balochistan can be made provinces, while K-P can be split into three provinces. Sindh can have five: Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas.

Having more units would mean the transfer of funds to more people who can use them wisely. As we have seen in Punjab, most of the funds have been spent in Lahore, central and north Punjab; all part of the core constituency of the Sharif brothers. South Punjab has therefore seen very little development in the past five years.

Even though a federal system of government works best when control and authority are decentralised, as is the case when more provinces are created, it is doubtful that the present mindset and greed of our politicians will allow them to agree to the formation of more provinces. Our citizens will thus be compelled to go on living as they have in the past, with poor healthcare, without proper education for their children, with battered roads and heaps of garbage lying everywhere.

Shakir Lakhani

Engineer, former visiting lecturer at NED Engineering College, industrialist, associated with petroleum/chemical industries for many years. Loves writing, and (in the opinion of most of those who know him), mentally unbalanced. He tweets @shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/67061/imran-khan-is-right-pakistan-should-have-more-than-four-provinces/

A comparion of PPPP & PMLN governent performances

Not quite so bad in comparison

Published in the Express Tribune Blogs on March 12, 2018

When Benjamin Franklin said that nothing is certain in this world except for death and taxes, he should have added inflation to the list of certainties. But perhaps inflation wasn’t much of a problem in those days.

We should not be surprised at the high rate of inflation in Pakistan. For one thing, we are unable or unwilling to bring down the population rate. I can’t understand why the government insists that the birth rate is just above 2%. How can it be when almost everyone in our rural areas has at least six children? Naturally, with an exploding population, inflation has to be high, with demand exceeding supply and more mouths to feed with every passing year.

On the inflation front, the PML-N’s period (2013-18) was not quite as bad as that of the previous government. In fact, the rate of inflation has been much lower in the present government’s tenure whereas there was rampant inflation during the PPP government of 2008-13. According to a recently published news report, prices of all essential commodities increased substantially when the last PPP government was in power. Compared to this, during the present government’s tenure, the rate of inflation has not been so much (except for chicken meat), with prices of some essential items actually being less than when the last government handed over power to the present one. Daal (lentils), for instance, is now available for Rs90 per kg, compared to Rs135 per kg in 2013. The price of another essential commodity (sugar) rose in 2008-13 from Rs25/kg to Rs55/kg, but today it is still available for Rs55/kg. Again, ghee now costs 10% less than it used to in 2013. Similarly, electricity prices rose every year by 25% per month from 2008 to 2013, compared to 8% in the present government’s tenure.

They say that inflation has a lot to do with crude oil prices. But this does not explain why petrol prices in Pakistan increased substantially in the PPP’s reign, despite crude oil prices going down in the same period. When the cost of a barrel of crude oil was $145 (in July 2008) the price of petrol was Rs63 per litre, yet in 2013 it was Rs103 per litre (despite crude oil price being $93-94 per barrel).

Then there is the effect of the exchange rate on inflation. For some reason, during every PPP government, the value of the dollar has always increased against the rupee. The first thing Z A Bhutto did after assuming power in December 1970 was to lower the value of the rupee from Rs4.50 to Rs9.90 against the dollar, with disastrous effect on the economy. During the last government’s tenure, the rupee decreased from Rs68.80 to Rs98.30 to the dollar (a slide of 43%). The present government has been able to contain the slide of the rupee, allowing it to decrease by only 12% in five years (from Rs98.30 to Rs110.50 per dollar).

Of course, the PML-N government has been lucky in that crude oil prices have been lower during its present tenure. But the fact remains, despite high imports as well as low exports (compared to the previous government’s tenure), the rupee has remained stable against the dollar.

If you told the average voter in Punjab that the national debt has soared during the PML-N reign, he would simply shake his head. Even if he is told that every Pakistani now has a debt of Rs94,000 (it was Rs90,000 in 2013), it would not bother him. What he knows is that prices of eatables have not risen as much as they did when Nawaz was not in power.

So, unless something happens in the next few months to cause food prices to soar, the common man, particularly in Punjab, is unlikely to vote for any other party except the PML-N.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1657480/6-not-quite-bad-comparison/

When giving your child quality education cost only Rs10 per month

Published in the Express Tribune blogs on February 24, 2018

During the 1950s, I was studying in a missionary school (St Patrick’s). Many people in position of power have studied from the same school, such as a president, a prime minister, many army officers, government ministers and the famous Indian politician LK Advani. I still remember how the school fee at that time was only Rs10.

But one day, in 1956 or thereabouts, the fee structure was changed. For some boys, the fee remained at Rs10, for some (like my brother and I) it was raised to Rs25, while the rest had to pay Rs37. Even though the school was informed that my father’s income was not enough for him to be able to pay Rs10 per child, they concluded that we were from a middle-class family – perhaps it was assumed so because my brother and I came to school in a second-hand car, while the families considered wealthy had new cars or maybe more than one car – and so had to pay the fee accordingly.

To the children of today, Rs10, 25, 37 or even 100 does not mean much, but in those days, a bank manager’s salary was Rs400 per month and it was sufficient for him and his family to live comfortably. It cost a total of Rs1,500 (including books) for me to get through four years of engineering college and acquire a degree.

It was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government that dealt a death blow to education. By indiscriminately nationalising most private schools and colleges (including some which were run by missionaries), he ensured that poor Pakistanis would never be able to get quality education, and only the children of the elite would get reputable jobs.

As the years went by, the standard of education deteriorated so much that it was sometimes very difficult to find a graduate who could write a simple sentence in any language. This was honestly not surprising though, considering that most schools had ghost teachers who turned up only to collect their salaries (as they were party activists who were otherwise unemployable). Men from the rural areas were appointed as school principals, despite not being able to sign their own names!

Private schools were allowed by General Ziaul Haq who also returned some schools to their original owners. But the damage had been done. Even today, those who set up new schools are afraid that some future government will nationalise their schools, which is one reason why the fees in private schools are so high.

The least expensive school today charges Rs1,800 a month, missionary schools Rs6,500, while monthly school fees in most other schools are Rs10,000-20,000. There are some which charge even more (from Rs20,000-117,000) but these are only a few, where the children of our feudal lords, smugglers and tax evaders go to be educated. To get a professional degree requires millions, as a result of which only children from very rich families can become doctors, engineers or graduates with business degrees from quality institutes.

The question then arises, where is a poor man supposed to send his children for quality education?

My driver has nine children, earns Rs20,000 per month and it’s obviously very tough for him to survive and sustain, and provide for his family. His sons study in a madrassa which charges Rs200 per boy, while his daughters, according to him, don’t need any education as they are married off as soon as they attain puberty.

Can you imagine what his sons will do once they leave the madrassa? They will have no technical and lingual skills, so they will not be able to earn enough to support their own families. Most of them will be recruited by religious parties as activists. However, one thing is sure – none of them will be hired as managers, and will have to settle for meager jobs such as that of peons or watchmen, if at all.

What of those who earn Rs35,000 to 40,000 a month and have two or three kids (officers in a banks or commercial organisations)? They would be able to get their children educated in missionary schools (provided their children are admitted there). But knowing the number of applicants desiring to be educated in good schools, it is doubtful if this would be possible.

When men cannot earn enough to survive, they turn to crime. Lack of proper training and education results in unemployment which drives them to resort to committing unlawful activities such as mugging and theft. No wonder we have so many street crimes in our cities!

The situation is hopeless. Even though there have been protests against fee hike, the situation has remained the same. The courts forbade private schools from increasing fees by more than 5%, but then, there are other ways for schools to make money, such as increasing admission fees (which in some cases is one to two lakhs). They can also increase other charges like sports fee – there is nothing to prevent them from extortion and plunder. The government is powerless because there is no law in place which can force private schools and colleges to reduce their fees, while the state has no funds to establish more quality schools and colleges.

Hence, I suggest all schools and colleges reserve 10% of their seats for children from poor families. Draws could be held to determine who would be admitted, and no fee should be charged from such students. This way, at least, some children from poor families would have an equal chance at educations and employment.

Every generation has certain responsibilities towards the next generation, and education being a vital foundation is one of them. If we cannot even provide basic necessities such as quality education and create a fair and equal environment for our children, why bother with bigger things and better opportunities?

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/64212/when-giving-your-child-quality-education-only-costed-rs10/

 

 

 

Rules and laws apply to all but Imran Khan, PTI members and K-P police

Published in the Express Tribune Blogs on February 2, 2018

There are times when I almost feel sorry for Imran Khan. Every time he makes a statement blaming Nawaz Sharif or some other opposition leader, something similar ends up happening to make him eat humble pie

For instance, when he proclaimed that he didn’t believe in dynasty politics like the Sharifs and the Bhuttos, but then gave a party ticket to the son of the disqualified Jehangir Tareen, despite there being hundreds of other honest workers in his party who deserved it more. Or when he defended Rao Anwar upon his sacking by Nawaz, but then had to eat his words after the errant police officer turned out to be a murderer on the run. And of course, most recently, when he jumped into the fray and supported TV anchor Shahid Masood’s claims regarding Zainab’s killer and his bank accounts, and that a Punjab MNA belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was part of an international pornography ring; all alleged claims the anchor has been unable to prove in court.

And who can forget his famous “lanat” speech, when he supported his mentor, Sheikh Rasheed, and said he would resign from the National Assembly? There are no talks of resignations now. On the contrary, when he shamelessly claimed that all his party parliamentarians have handed their resignation letters to him, one of them immediately denied it. But of course, none of this has had any effect on Imran. I wonder if he feels any shame, now that Rasheed too has decided not to resign (undoubtedly to avail the benefits of being an MNA for its remaining tenure of four months!).

Imran Khan ✔@ImranKhanPTI

When a Parliament, which must protect nation's interests, passes a person-specific law allowing a disqualified person guilty of Rs 3 bn money laundering, tax evasion, concealment of assets, forgery & perjury to become head of a pol party, then such a law is a "laanath" on Parl.

10:43 AM - Jan 18, 2018

Let’s consider what happened when Imran went all out to defame the Punjab government in its alleged mishandling of the Zainab rape case. Denouncing the Punjab police and its government, he suggested that since Zainab’s father had appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and the Army Chief to help find the killer, this indicated that the public had lost confidence in the government and the police. However, in a surprising twist, two incidents happened in rapid succession in his own Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), where his own party has been in charge for over four years.

The first was the rape and murder of four-year-old Asma, whose killer remains at large, even after 20 days. The other case is that of Asma Rani, a medical student who was recently shot dead for refusing a proposal in Kohat. The killer, Mujahid Afridi, is also said to be the nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) local district president. Rani’s father, in a heart-breaking plea, asked the CJP and the Army Chief to help him get justice.

https://twitter.com/WaqarBibi/status/958445663704018944

So what does Imran have to say now, in light of these developments? Strangely enough, he continues praising the K-P police. Even more strange is the fact that, even though he went to Kasur and Lahore to denounce the Punjab police, he has not had the decency to do the same and go meet the parents of little Asma or the beleaguered family of Rani, who seek justice to no avail.

But then again, Imran’s policy has always been to either turn a deaf ear to all crimes taking place in K-P, or attack a certain media house for pointing out such “awkward” instances, such as the rape of children or women being stripped and forced to parade naked. In fact, even though the Supreme Court itself criticised the K-P police for being negligent, Imran still maintains that it is the best police in the country.

Of course, the K-P police is highly efficient when it comes to failing to take appropriate and timely action whenever members of the PTI are involved in crimes. It allowed PTI councillor, Arif Khan, to escape to Bangkok after the lynching of Mashal Khan a year ago. It failed to take action after Sharifan Bibi was stripped in public, because of pressure from the notorious Ali Amin Gandapur. On an interesting side note, Gandapur was once caught on his way to Bani Gala with large bottles of what he claimed was honey, but was in fact whiskey.

https://youtu.be/BHnsV4AKfz0

Astoundingly, the Chief Minister of K-P, Parvez Khattak, casually dismissed the incidents of rape and murder in his province, by saying that such incidents happen all over the world and that his police force should not be criticised for a few such instances. He also said that it was all a planned campaign against his party, repeating the same tune his party head does whenever he is criticised for his failings.

To be fair, there have been instances when the K-P police has acted promptly, such as when it arrested the five rapists of a boy in Haripur within 48 hours.

KP Police@KP_Police1

@KP_Police1 After a sad incident was reported on 27-1-2018 in #Haripur of a boy been raped by 5 offenders, #KPPolice swiftly responded with arresting all offenders with in 48 hours

1. Ashfaq Ahmad

2. Khurram

3. Arsalan

4. Ahmad

5. Constable Shahzad

3:40 PM - Jan 29, 2018

But it is important to note that in the cases where the criminals were caught within 48 hours, the rapists were not relatives of PTI officials. One can only wish that the K-P police would be equally efficient in cases in which those associated with and belonging to PTI are complicit.

I have accepted that Imran’s followers will perhaps always remain blind to his shortcomings, but if they really want to know what the common residents of K-P think of PTI, then they should really watch these eye-opening videos.

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/958835368295587841/pu/img/-QhSsKLyKd53ik8h?format=jpg&name=900x900

The question lingering in everyone’s mind is, when will Imran turn his attention from what is happening in other provinces and do something to make the lives of those living in K-P better? Given all that Imran has accomplished thus far, one is not wrong to expect more maturity from him. One is also not wrong to be thoroughly disappointed by his persistently inexcusable and immature behaviour.

I have my doubts on whether it is possible for Imran to change, but it can be argued that miracles are always possible. One of these days Imran may do something that will pleasantly surprise us, such as finally putting his money where his mouth is and taking action against the negligence of the K-P police or the crooks in his party. One can only hope that the tabdeeli in Imran’s naya Pakistan will start with him.

By Shakir Lakhani

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/63507/rules-and-laws-apply-to-all-but-imran-khan-pti-members-and-k-p-police/

Did we catch the right man in Zainab’s murder?

After weeks of hoping, praying and demanding justice, we have finally been presented with a man being deemed the main culprit in the Zainab rape case. However, in light of all the information that was revealed to us earlier, along with the hurried nature of this capture, I remain unconvinced that Imran Ali Arshad is the man who not only raped and killed Zainab, but also seven other little girls since 2015.

What is certain is that if the Supreme Court (SC) had not ordered the police to find the killer within 72 hours, the police would never have acted so. Knowing the way our police functions, even if they had caught the real culprit, his release would probably have been secured in exchange for money. Naturally, given the way events have unfolded, I am not alone in being doubtful of the results.

Aaliya Shah@AaliyaShah1

Zainab murderer arrested i am still doubtful is he real culprit or fake criminal by punjab police like fake encounters to defuse this case and to stop media coverage #ZainabMurderCase

3:31 PM - Jan 23, 2018

Benazir Shah

✔@Benazir_Shah

"Imran is said to be a relative of the deceased." Why didn't the family recognise him through CCTV footage? Also, the suspects DNA matched that found on ten other girls who were raped and killed. #Zainab

1:38 PM - Jan 23, 2018

23 Jan

omar r quraishi

✔@omar_quraishi

The Supreme Court gave the Punjab police 3 days to arrest Zainab's killer - with the deadline running out soon they said today that they have arrested a 23 year old man who lives in her neighbourhood and that he confessed - his name is Imran Arshad pic.twitter.com/p3lvodpkaN

Soumyadipta

✔@Soumyadipta

He looks nowhere even close to the killer captured on CCTV camera. I think they have tortured him into confessing.

2:14 PM - Jan 23, 2018

Some people feel that the man who can be seen in the CCTV footage appears to be different from the profile of the suspect arrested. Others wonder if he was a neighbour, why wasn’t he investigated earlier? There are conflicting reports in this regard, with some suggesting that Zainab’s family had told the police that Imran was someone they trusted, who also frequently visited their home and also participated in the protests held against Zainab’s murder, which is why he was let go by the officials in the first place.

omar r quraishi

✔@omar_quraishi>

Zainab's suspected killer and rapist Imran Arshad was not only a neighbour but was known to her & her family -- would visit her house and several times she would go accompanied by him: police

6:03 PM - Jan 23, 2018

According to the neighbours, the police did ask Imran to go with them for questioning, but he started frothing at the mouth and had a fainting episode, while his mother screamed that a pious, God-fearing person like him could never be a rapist or a killer. The neighbours also intervened, claiming that Imran was a deeply religious man who recited naats and offered prayers regularly. Thus, at the time, the police had “no option” but to free him. In fact, in pictures taken during Zainab’s funeral, Imran can be seen a few feet away from Dr Tahirul Qadri.

Omar r quraishi

✔@omar_quraishi>

It appears that Zainab's suspected killer Imran Arshad was also present at her funeral

8:38 PM - Jan 23, 2018

Sarah Jawad@SarahJawadKhan

Intelligence agencies confirm that Zainab's serial rapist and killer Imran Ali Naqshbani was involved in attacking parliament building during 2014 dherna, was bodyguard of Dr Qadri, led PAT & PTI workers to attack police, hes a trained militant

9:12 PM - Jan 23, 2018

To rub salt on our wounds, the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif, addressed a press conference in which he took all credit for solving the case. He also couldn’t resist reminding the nation about the case of Asma, a little girl from Mardan who met a fate similar to that of Zainab and whose case remains unsolved. He seemed to be insinuating that just because the Punjab police “succeeded” in solving Zainab’s case, while the police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) remain in the dark, somehow the Punjab government is better than the one in K-P. At this point, one can only remind him that Punjab has been in his control for the past 10 years, yet neither its police nor its government did anything when the first rape and murder of a little girl was reported two years ago, nor when the Kasur scandal broke out in 2015.

In fact, in my opinion, Shehbaz is equally responsible for the ensuing deaths of seven innocent little girls, because his policemen did not do what they are paid to do, but were instead used mainly for the protection of the chief minister and his cronies.

Mahwash Ajaz

✔@mahwashajaz_

This is a really awful time to take "credit" for things @CMShehbaz. Little children were raped and murdered on your watch. You caught a murderer but instead of fanfaring abt how great you are, take steps on never letting this happen again. Zainab's death was a collective failure.

8:45 PM - Jan 23, 2018

Furthermore, whether or not Imran is the real killer, the police are also responsible for the rape and murders which this man is alleged to have committed. The court should order the punishment of all those police officers who failed to take action after the first rape was reported in 2015. The punishment should also fit the crime, and not involve mere suspension or being posted as officer on “special duty”, which is what is usually done whenever a policeman is found to be negligent; case in point: Rao Anwar.

We know that our ruling politicians appoint unqualified and unsuitable persons from their home towns to work as policemen, particularly in Karachi, where several extrajudicial incidents have taken place, including one in which the cops killed four young men in cold blood. They act as if they are above the law – perhaps because in this country, they are – and would never be held accountable for such fake “encounters”. Their leader, Anwar, was caught trying to escape to Dubai after killing an innocent man, Naqeebullah Mehsud. Anwar is reportedly a favourite of those who rule over the unfortunate province of Sindh, and has been suspended several times in the past, only to be re-instated again. Naturally, with such powerful people backing him, Anwar has supervised the killing of about 300 people, claiming that they were militants. In light of these new developments, the court should investigate all these murders and determine how many of the victims were actually innocent.

Just a few months ago, there emerged another case of a “fake encounter”, as video footage showed Faisalabad police pumping bullets into a man called Asif Sardar. Even though he had surrendered and posed no apparent threat, the police later claimed he had opened fire at them first. An investigation conducted last year of 20 police encounters determined that in six such encounters, the police had misused law and had exceeded their powers. Things have become so bad that the common man is now dreadfully afraid of the police. Most people who have been held up, a very common experience for those who live in Karachi, are too scared to go to a police station to report the crime. They fear that they will either be robbed by the cops in exchange for their freedom, or made to forcibly confess to having killed someone or robbed a bank.

As for Zainab’s alleged killer, he has already been presumed guilty, after being condemned by the chief minister of the province. Given the state of our police, and after such extensive media coverage, especially after Shehbaz’s press conference, the accused is unlikely to get a fair trial.

Thus, if Imran is shot dead in an “encounter” while allegedly trying to escape, or if he ends up committing suicide before his trial, we should not and cannot be blamed for suspecting that the real killer is someone who is still out there, while Imran is presented to us as a scapegoat. No matter what happens, however, Shehbaz should be made to realise that due to his inaction in the past, ultimately he, too, bears responsibility for the brutal murder of the eight little girls in Kasur.

Shakir Lakhani

https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/63210/did-we-catch-the-right-man-in-zainabs-murder/