Prince William and our politicians

Published in The Express Tribune on June 26, 2012

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According to a news item, Princess Diana’s son, Prince William, has received a notice to pay four million pounds on the ten million pounds he has inherited from his mother’s estate. Just imagine the reactions of our politicians to such a news item.

‘Why can’t he force the tax authorities to withdraw the tax notice? Why can’t he get the files misplaced or make them disappear? What kind of country is the UK where even the most powerful people have to pay taxes? What is the use of being a prince if you have to pay taxes?” It almost makes one wish that the British had never left the subcontinent.

Shakir Lakhani

https://tribune.com.pk/story/399016/prince-william-and-our-politicians/

Dangerous driving

Published In The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2012. 

KARACHI: For the past few Sundays, the residents of Creek Vista Apartments in DHA, Phase VIII, Karachi have been subjected to extreme noise pollution liable to rupture their ear drums. Hundreds of motorcycles and cars use street number 16 of the area for staging races. All traffic laws are broken as the vehicles try to outrace each other. Most of the vehicles have broken silencers that add to the noise. It’s a miracle that so far, no one has been killed, although a couple of accidents have taken place.

I have a strong suspicion that boys from rich and influential families are involved in this dangerous practice as the DHA authorities have done nothing — like making speed breakers — to discourage the practice. I suppose only a major accident will convince them to ban these races.

Shakir Lakhani

Get the Chief Justice!

The get CJ plan

Published in The News on June 17, 2012

In his article ‘The get-CJ-by-July strategy’, Mohammad Malick says, “It’s a fact that he (Malik Riaz) had been assured the governorship of Punjab, both by Zardari and Nawaz, in recognition of his mediatory services during their 2008 parlays”. I don’t see anything wrong in this.

In a country ruled by people with tainted reputations, another one of the same kind wouldn’t have made any difference. In fact, even if Malik Riaz was convicted, he could have still become, and remained, the chief executive of the country. We have seen this happen in the country only recently.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

One more problem for Pakistan's corrupt rulers

Miracles

Published in The News, June 15, 2012

As if our rulers didn’t have enough problems, Farrukh Saleem has said something which will give them many sleepless nights. In his article ‘Miracle’ (June 13), Farrukh Saleem mentions that the Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak accumulated a fortune of $70 billion.

I do wish people would refrain from saying such things. Now each of our leaders will worry and wonder how long it will take before they are able to secure that much wealth.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Corrupt Prime Minister vs honest Chief Justice

Fathers and sons

Published in The News on June 14, 2012

This is with reference to your editorial ‘Fathers and sons’ (June 12). I wonder how Prime Minister Gilani would have reacted had he been the chief justice instead of Iftikhar Chaudhry. Would he have taken suo motu action on the baisis of rumours about involvement of his sons in financial improprieties? Or would he have moved heaven and earth to have the case hushed up?

I’m sure that an opinion poll would most certainly reveal that in such circumstances, PM Gilani would have used all his influence to get all the honest persons investigating the case transferred to remote locations.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Our incorruptible Chief Justice

A couple of days before the scandal about the Chief Justice's son broke out, two people told me that the CJ is not as honest as he seems and he too could be corrupt. I laughed. You're wrong, I said, if he was corrupt, he wouldn't be taking action against our ruling elite. I gave them examples of Thomas Becket and Sir Thomas Moore, both honest and upright men who stood up to their kings and had to pay with their lives for being incorruptible. In fact, I reminded them of what I had written when the CJ had been sacked by General Musharraf. I had predicted, "In future, Musharraf will be remembered only as Pakistan's military dictator in the days when Iftikhar Choudhry was the Chief Justice of Pakistan." Even now, with his son embroiled in controversy, I'm certain that the CJ has nothing to do with the scandal. Of course, people will ask why he did not wonder how his son was able to go on foreign trips with his wife and kids, but even I do not exactly know what my son does for a living, except that his business has to do something with computers. We now have to wait and see how the trial of the CJ's son turns out: if the man really took money to bribe judges, he (and those who gave him the money for this purpose) should be convicted. This will strengthen our judiciary and perhaps those who have been habitually looting the country in the past will stop doing so.

Rehman Malik's perjury

Identity crisis 

Published in The News on June 5, 2012 

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This is with reference to your editorial ‘Identity crisis’ (June 3). PPP leaders have never bothered about little things like lying in courts. Rehman Malik had to be pardoned by the president to remain in government. Now you can bet that he will be pardoned again if convicted of perjury.

Again, no Pakistani minister or politician has ever resigned for even major lapses (like plane crashes, railway accidents, Haj scams and rental power frauds). It is not in the nature of Pakistanis to even talk of resigning when caught lying or looting.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Bilawal Zardari's "advice" to President Obama!

Published in The News on May 25, 2012

I salute Bilawal Zardari for advising President Obama to be courageous and apologize for the killing of 26 Pakistani soldiers. I hope he will now ask Prime Minister Gilani to be equally brave and do what the Supreme Court asked him to do, to bring the $60 million dollars of looted money from Switzerland back to the country. 

Shakir Lakhani 

Karachi 

Just print more money!

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21, 2012

KARACHI: This refers to the news item in your paper titled “Printing money can help overcome load-shedding, suggests Gilani” (May 16). If printing money could solve any problem, every single country in the world would be doing it. Evidently, the prime minister does not know that one of the reasons for rampant inflation in Pakistan is also caused by the unchecked printing of notes. I wonder why Mr Gilani didn’t also suggest that Pakistan’s internal and external debts could be paid off by printing money.

Shakir Lakhani

Silent heart attacks

Another Memon died suddenly yesterday. He was Bashir No. 2, the first Bashir having kicked the bucket about four months back. I had met both of them eating like it was their last meal and had told them to be careful. "You're both diabetics," I said, "Go to a cardiologist and get your hearts checked." Bashir no. 1 had laughed loudly. "Of all people, you're saying this, you have never smoked in your life, yet you had to have angioplasty a year ago." He was right, but the reason I survived that first attack was because I was not a smoker and had my weight under control. Bashir No. 2 said, "Brother, don't worry about such things, you live in Karachi, here you can be killed on your way home any day." Fifteen days later, they buried Bashir No. 1 after he suffered that first "silent" heart attack. Yesterday, Bashir No. 2 returned at four in the morning after a night of playing snooker in a smoke-filled room and feasting until he could eat no more. He went into the bathroom and collapsed. Another silent heart attack, another Memon who thought he was immune from heart attacks is gone.