The Panama papers disclosure still being the most hyped up and highlighted issue worldwide, Dr.Moeed Pirzada analyzed the government’s appointment of Justice (r) Jalal Usmani to probe the matter. Opposition parties rejected the proposal of appointing a forensic group from any organisation within the government’s control such as the institute of chartered accountants of Pakistan. A suggestion has been agreed upon, that a committee chaired by the senate chairman Raza Rabbani can be put together for this purpose. This is the same suggestion that was floated on this show, while interviewing Mr.Saleem Mandwevaala last Sunday.
What will this commission be expected to do? What will be the challenges faced by this commission?
Dr. Pirzada also connected the dots by showing clips of Mr.Hassan Nawaz’s statements to a talk show in 1999, Mr.Hussein Nawaz’s media correspondence and the father’s recent address to the nation.
Tonight With Moeed Pirzada: Panama Papers Unsolved Mystery !!!
Law and Order – Ardeshir Cowasjee, 21 May 2000
[Note: Read carefully how forced by a London Court in Jan 2000, Sharif family paid up $32 million to the Al-Towfeek Group, in the Hudabiya Paper Mill Case, to save their London properties, 16, 16-A, 17 and 17-A. Interesting Question is: Where the US $32 million came from? Most of Sharif family was in Jail at the time; so who paid? how paid? how the transactions were conducted? Did they have other ‘offs-shore accounts’ from where funds were mobilized? Did they sell properties in Pakistan to mobilize funds? If anyone paid for them, then why? What was the Quid pro Quo? In any case such large amount – US $ 32 million, i.e. $ 3 crore and 2o lacs – were not carried in a suit case..These questions remain unanswered to this day. Will a Pakistani Commission be able to ask and resolve this?]
Law and order
ARDESHIR COWASJEE — PUBLISHED MAY 21, 2000 12:00AM
Dawn News, Pakistan
IN order to reconstruct we must revert to the “ideology of Pakistan” and to the premier dictum of its Founder and Maker Mohammad Ali Jinnah: “The first duty of a government is to maintain law and order so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state.”
Pakistani banks and lending institutions which handle state money and the people’s money were nationalized on New Year’s Day 1974 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for a highly nefarious purpose – to allow him and his government to lend to those who could not repay and were thus unable to borrow from elsewhere in accordance with banking norms.
Our last two ‘democratic’ prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, plus their cohorts and admirers, robbed as much as they could from these very same institutions with the express purpose of not repaying anything, having successfully ‘fixed’ the relevant law-makers, law-dipensers andlaw-enforcers.
What I narrate illustrates how money is lent and recovered in recognized practising democracies where law and order prevails.
Hudabiya Paper Mills Ltd (first defendant), Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif (second defendant), Mian Mohammad Sharif (third defendant) and Mian Mohammad Abbas Sharif (fourth defendant) , under English law and jurisdiction borrowed money from Investment Funds Ltd, operated by Al Towfeek Company (the plaintiff). Abiding by the Pakistani norm, they did not repay the loan. Al Towfeek went to court and the Order of Master Rose (The masters of the various divisions of the high court deal with routine matters) of September 4, 1998, was duly served upon Hudabiya and the three Mians of Lahore. Employing the usual delaying tactics, as applied in the land over which they misruled, the Mians filed an application in the court asking that the order and the service of the proceedings be set aside. The application was heard in chambers by Mr Justice Buckley of the Queen’s Bench Division. He wrote a one-page order on February 5, 1999, (as opposed to a 100-page judgment) which reads as follows: “Upon the defendants’ application for an order that the Order of Master Rose of 4 September 1998 and the service of proceedings be set aside pursuant to RSC Order 12 Rule 8 and that the plaintiffs do pay the defendants costs to be taxed forthwith and upon hearing leading counsel for the plaintiff and the defendants and upon reading the following affidavits : . . . . . [13 affidavits listed]
“It is hereby ordered that: 1) the defendants’ application under RSC Order 12 Rule 8 be refused. 2) Costs of this application be paid by the defendants to the plaintiff to be taxed if not agreed.”
On March 16, 1999, the court delivered its judgment ordering Hudabiya and the Mians to repay the loan. The amount due was not paid and on November 5, 1999, Master Trench by a one-page order ordered that the properties of the Mians be attached.
“Upon reading the witness statements of Shezi Nackvi filed herein on the 26th October, 1999, and 5th November 1999 whereby it appears that by a judgment made on the 16th March 1999 in the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, the second defendant was ordered to pay to the plaintiff the sum of US$17,719,315.26 or its sterling equivalent of which US$18,673,203.86 remains due and unpaid as at 19th October, 1999, and the third defendant and fourth defendant were ordered to pay to the plaintiff the sum of US$14,712,912.18 or its sterling equivalent of which US$15,504,732.37 remains due and unpaid as at 19th October, 1999, and that the second defendant, third defendant and/or fourth defendant has a beneficial interest in the assets specified in the schedule hereto.
“It is ordered by Master Trench that unless sufficient cause to the contrary be shown before a judge in chambers in Room No. E101, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London on the… day of 1999, at o’clock, the second and third and the fourth defendant’s interests in the said assets, to the extent of their respective interests, shall and it is ordered in the meantime it do, stand charged with the payment of US$18,673,203.86 or its sterling equivalent due on the said judgment as against the second defendant and US$15,504.732.37 or its sterling equivalent due on the said judgment as against the third and fourth defendants and interest thereon at the statutory rate together with the costs of this application.
“And it is further ordered that the plaintiff have permission to serve upon the second defendant, third defendant and fourth defendant in Pakistan a copy of this order together with a copy of the witness statements of Shezi Nackvi.
“And it is further ordered that this application and all documents supporing it be served on the companies named in para 16 of the first witness statement of Shezi Nackvi, as to which leave is granted to serve them in the British Virgin Islands, and also the creditors named in paragraph 4 of the said Mr Nackvi’s second witness statement, as to which leave is granted to serve the same in Pakistan or in the state or states where any of them are registered.”
The schedule lists the four properties owned in London by the Mians of Lahore: 16, 16A, 17 and 17A Avenfield House, at 117-128 Park Lane, London.
End of story. The Mians paid up and settled with the lenders. Master Trench recorded the ‘consent order’ signed by the solicitors of both sides on January 25, 2000 which reads as follows :
“Upon the plaintiff and the first, second, third and fourth defendants having agreed to the terms of the deed referred to in the schedule hereto “And upon the plaintiff by its solicitors undertaking not to enforce or execute judgment, or take any further steps whatsoever, in the action against the first defendant, save insofar as permitted by and in accordance with such terms
“By consent it is ordered that:
1) All further proceedings in this action be stayed, on the terms more particularly set out in the deed described in the schedule to this order, as between the plaintiff and the first, second, third and fourth defendants except for the purpose of carrying this order and the said terms into effect for which purpose the parties are to be at liberty to apply, including in particular, to apply in accordance with this order to enforce judgment against the defendants in this action in the event of non-compliance with Clause 3 of the said deed.
“The charging order nisi granted by Master Trench on November 5, 1999, be discharged forthwith upon payment in accordance with Clause 3 of the said deed with no order as to costs.”
To another matter, the power companies. HUBCO, KAPCO, and others have made shady deals involving, but not limited to, the companies themselves, the World Bank, other international lending agencies and our worthy ‘democratic’ prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif aided by their team-mates. However, what is signed by the government must be honoured unless it can be commercially resolved out of court. The contracts with the power companies provide for international arbitration and WAPDA and the Government of Pakistan (whether civil or military) are bound by this provision. No foreign investor will invest in Pakistan if he is denied international arbitration and is compelled to take disputes to the Pakistani courts which he does not trust and is convinced are government-controlled and manipulated. The power companies are well aware of what they have done and are inclined to settle out of court. A commercial settlement is beyond the competence of military men. Our Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz should be empowered to lead a delegation of competent men of integrity trusted by the people to settle the outstanding issues.
The Asia Society annual corporate conference held this month in Shanghai was attended by a thousand delegates from all over the world, western and eastern, and was addressed by the prime minister of China and 43 leading world personalities in the political and business fields. The presence of our ambasador in Beijing, Riaz Khokar, marked our existence. No mention of Pakistan was made by any speaker, the country might not have been a part of Asia – or even of the world.
Of the greatest concern now is the physical law and order situation in Karachi. The least that a military government can do is to use, if and when necessary, the force and power it has at its command to stop rioters and arsonists from killing people and destroying public and private property. Case in point : the ransacking and burning of the offices of the Business Recorder on May 18. This government cannot be forgiven for what happened. If it had the will (the wherewithal it has), the least it could have done was to have ensured that no such incident took place.
Sharif set for grilling on wealth, Guardian, 10 April 2000
Sharif set for grilling on wealth
Pakistan’s new regime says the deposed prime minister bought Park Lane apartments with stolen money
Pakistan coup: special report
Luke Harding and Rory McCarthy in Islamabad
Monday 10 April 2000 01.52 BST
Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is to be interrogated this week over claims that he stole hundreds of millions of pounds during his time in power, depositing much of the money in offshore accounts based in Britain.
Sharif, who last week received two life sentences for hijacking and terrorism, will be asked how he was able to purchase four Park Lane apartments. Investigators have discovered that the Mayfair properties are registered to two offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands.
At the weekend officials accused Sharif of concealing ownership of the properties at the time of his 1997 election victory and formally registered a corruption case against him. He faces four other corruption charges, with at least seven more cases pending.
In a sign that General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s military leader, has not finished with the man he toppled, Sharif is expected to appear in court again this month and faces the prospect of several lengthy corruption trials stretching over several years.
“Sharif was involved in evasion of taxes, money laundering, circumventing procedures and railroading legislation specifically to benefit family concerns,” Farouk Adam Khan, the chief corruption prosecutor, said. “We would like to confront him with information we have collected.”
Sharif’s six co-defendants, who were last week acquitted in the hijacking case, have been arrested again. His brother Shahbaz, a former chief minister of Punjab, has been moved to the Attock Fort jail, pending a corruption trial. Mr Sharif is expected to appeal against his terrorism conviction today.
Investigators have been attempting to trace his assets since he was detained following the military coup in October. They claim that he siphoned off “hundreds of millions of pounds” from Pakistan throughout his politcal career, hiding the money in Jersey, Guernsey and Switzerland.
Sources at Pakistan’s national accountability bureau say that Mr Sharif concealed ownership of his Park Lane apartments by registering them in the name of two British Virgin Island offshore companies.
The flats are managed by a firm of British solicitors. The companies have two Swiss bankers as nominees.
“We believe the money used to buy these apartments was stolen from the people of Pakistan,” Mr Khan added.
Sharif, who is 50, allegedly bought the properties with money borrowed from state-run Pakistani banks, and failed to repay it. Although technically bankrupt, he is one of Pakistan’s richest men. He owns an estate, several townhouses and a lucrative steel, sugar, textile and paper empire. All these are registered to his wife Kulsoom, daughter Mariam and other relatives. They deny impropriety.
“Having property is not illegal. The Sharif family is not at all corrupt and insh’allah (God willing) we will prove it one day,” Mrs Sharif said recently. “The Park Lane flats were bought because the children were studying in London.”
For the past six months investigators have been piecing together how Sharif’s wealth increased by 800% since his appointment as Punjab chief minister in 1985, and between 1990-1993, when he first became prime minister.
He is accused of failing to pay tax on a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, not declaring income tax and defaulting on two loans worth £24m.
Under Pakistan’s military rulers, corruption charges have been filed against 85 people, including politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and bankers, many associated with the Sharif regime. Others were officials who served under Benazir Bhutto, prime minister 1988-1990 and 1993-1996. She is now in exile in London, after fleeing Pakistan last year shortly before a court sentenced her to five years for corruption.
Sharif’s younger brother Abbas and son Hussain have been in prison for several months. So far they have not been charged.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League met last night in Islamabad to discuss the future. Sharif’s family insist that he still runs the party from jail.
[Note: The beauty of this article is that Mrs.Kalsoom Nawaz admit to Guardian that they own the Apartments; however in BBC Interview Hasan Nawaz in Nov 1999 denies that Apartments belonged to them; he said we pay rent and I get the rent from Pakistan]
Former Leader of Pakistan May Face Corruption Trial, NYT, 21 Oct 1999
Former Leader of Pakistan May Face Corruption Trial
By TIM WEINER and STEVE LeVINE
Published: October 21, 1999
From New York Times
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 20— The military said today that Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister the army overthrew last week, is being investigated for corruption, including stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from state banks.
Brig. Rashid Qureshi, the spokesman for Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said Mr. Sharif would probably face trial on charges of defaulting on bank loans and tax evasion.
This kind of challenge to Pakistan’s politicians is popular among ordinary Pakistanis and has been presented by the military as justification for seizing power from the elected Government last week. It is routine in Pakistan for a new Government to investigate its predecessor and for corruption charges to become the fodder of political vendettas.
Even before Mr. Sharif was overthrown, federal investigators in his Government and the one before him, under his rival, Benazir Bhutto, had compiled evidence against him. It suggests that Mr. Sharif was part of a longstanding culture of corruption that has nearly bankrupted the country and turned its political parties into criminal enterprises.
Pakistan, a nation of more than 140 million people, has about $1.4 billion in its treasury. Its national banks say they are holding at least $4 billion in unsecured loans.
And at least 70 percent of those bad loans can be traced to the democratically elected leaders who held power over the past decade, along with their families and friends and politically powerful military officers, according to state bank records and interviews with senior bankers and former Government officials.
Their use of unsecured loans has ”brought the banking system down on its knees and rocked the financial stability of the nation,” said Mehriyar Pataudi, senior vice president of Askari Commercial Bank. ”The national banks have been treated as coffers for people who took money without a thought of having to return it.”
The corruption accusations against Mr. Sharif have yet to be proved in the nation’s politically crippled courts. But the evidence suggests that Pakistan’s rulers in recent years have collectively beggared their country.
According to Government records and interviews with leading bankers and politicians, Pakistan’s leaders, including previous military dictators, have long stolen public funds and public lands, taken kickbacks from public projects and, especially in recent years, exploited nationalized banks as personal exchequers.
Mr. Sharif, the ousted Prime Minister, has been held in isolation at one of his residences near Islamabad since the coup last week. Repeated attempts this week to reach him, his Government spokesman, who was also being held, and representatives of his Government and his family have been unsuccessful.
Mr. Sharif has not been formally accused of any crime since beginning his second term as Prime Minister in 1997.
But he was accused in a formal report, submitted last year to Pakistan’s President, of theft from the state, money laundering and fraud, including taking hundreds of millions of dollars in bad loans from state banks.
The origins of that report date to Mr. Sharif’s first term as Prime Minister, which ended in 1993, when he was dismissed, constitutionally, by Pakistan’s President for allowing corruption to flourish in Government institutions, including state-controlled banks.
In that same year, 1993, Mr. Sharif, a multimillionaire even before taking power, paid $60 in income tax. He has never paid a tax judgment of $50 million levied against him in 1995.
When his rival, Ms. Bhutto, took power, Pakistan’s chief investigative agency began to look into the charges of corruption against Mr. Sharif. In 1996 Ms. Bhutto’s Government was itself dismissed by the President on corruption charges. Re-elected, Mr. Sharif attempted to suppress the federal investigation and, while in power, Mr. Sharif’s Government compiled its own corruption charges against Ms. Bhutto.
The investigation into Mr. Sharif’s alleged wrongdoing nonetheless continued and, after a five-year inquiry, culminated in a report written by Rehman Malik, then deputy director of the nation’s top criminal investigative agency. In 1997 Mr. Sharif suppressed the final draft of the report and threw Mr. Malik into solitary confinement for almost a year.
The report, which has been reviewed by The New York Times, said Mr. Sharif used ill-gotten gains to buy, among other things, a $5 million family pied-a-terre in London. It was, the report alleged, one of four apartments bought with laundered money siphoned from Pakistani banks.
”The extent and magnitude of this corruption is so staggering that it has put the very integrity of the country at stake,” the report said.
Mr. Malik said in an interview from London, where he now lives, that Mr. Sharif and his family had taken hundreds of millions of dollars from Pakistan’s banks.
”No other leader of Pakistan has taken that much money from the banks,” he said. He added that Mr. Sharif had no fear of prosecution while he was Prime Minister. ”There is no rule of law in Pakistan,” he said. ”It doesn’t exist.”
The Federal Investigative Agency report said Mr. Sharif, now held in what the military calls protective custody, evaded millions of dollars in taxes, profited by manipulating import duties on goods and took money generated by state-owned enterprises.
He and his family, the report said, used dummy companies as repositories for millions of dollars. It cited, in detail, the family’s purchase of its properties in London as one example.
The report documented the following transactions:
*Mr. Sharif used a close friend’s nephew to open three dummy accounts at a Swiss bank in the names of non-existent people.
*At least $3.8 million flowed into those dummy accounts from two other accounts at a bank in Lahore, Mr. Sharif’s hometown. It said those accounts were opened in the names of two Pakistanis who lived in London and had nothing to do with the transaction.
*The Swiss bank funds, it said, were used to purchase the London property, where two of Mr. Sharif’s children live, through two offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Mr. Sharif’s name appears nowhere in these transactions.
The report also documents deals that benefited the main family business, the Ittefaq Group.
Ittefaq, a company that began as a small foundry, was started by Mr. Sharif’s father, Mohammad, a blacksmith. But as Mr. Sharif rose to power, the company grew to become ”an unparalleled industrial empire in Pakistan,” the report said.
When he served as a minister under Pakistan’s last military dictator, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, who seized power in 1977, the foundry became a diversified holding company of nine industrial concerns. By the middle of his first term as Prime Minister, it had grown to 30 companies.
The growth of Ittefaq was financed in part by at least $200 million in unsecured loans from Pakistan’s banks, the report said.
The use of nationalized banks as cash cows has destabilized Pakistan, according to bankers and politicians, and has created a climate in which legitimate loans became hard to find, international lenders looked askance and the nation’s reputation as a sinkhole for finance capital deepened.
”Pakistan is a criminal society,” said Irshadullah Khan, a prominent businessman and former Rhodes scholar. ”Our banking system is the most corrupt in the world.”
Photos: Pakistan’s military says Nawaz Sharif, top right, the ex-Prime Minister, may face corruption charges, as did Benazir Bhutto, his predecessor. (Photographs by Karen Davies)
[Note: Once again, this New York Times article, published in 1999, makes references towards Swiss Accounts, large transactions and money laundering activities; no Pakistani court could ever prove these charges, though these were published and were part of Pakistani investigations and FIA Reports – Panama Leaks are merely giving credibility to these old alleged crimes; Can a Pakistani Govt Commission successfully investigate all this?]
Search for the Millions Sharif ‘stole’-The Guardian, Oct 1999
Search for the Millions Sharif ‘stole’
The investigator Pakistan’s PM could not stop
Pakistan coup: special report
Paul Farrelly in London and Jason Burke in Raiwind
Sunday 24 October 1999 01.14 BST
Search for the Millions Sharif Stole
They tortured Rehman Malik by placing his hands and feet on ice for up to an hour at a time at a ‘safe house’ in Islamabad. Three years on, he still has trouble feeling sensations in his palms and soles from the punishment, meted out in black masks, by Nawaz Sharif’s heavies.
His neck, too, bears the painful crick from a year spent in solitary confinement in a tiny cell at Rawalpindi’s Adila jail with a brick wrapped in newspapers for a pillow. Malik, in mortal fear of convicted terrorists and official hatchet men, found his monthly half-hour visit from his seven-year-old son his single comfort.
Three times following his arrest in November 1996 the courts ordered Malik’s release. Each time he was re-arrested on trumped up charges until, after 12 months of humiliation, the Pakistani Supreme Court itself ruled his detention illegal.
Malik’s crime? To have been the deputy head of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Pakistan’s equivalent of the FBI, investigating allegations of massive corruption by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his family and cronies.
At 46, he was the youngest officer to reach such a senior rank, the equivalent of an army major-general. In a 20-year career, Malik had gained an impressive reputation in the West for anti-terrorist expertise, including investigation of the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing in New York and of Saudi fundamentalist Osama bin Laden. And, after Malik’s inquiries were publicised by The Observer last year, he started a ball rolling which culminated in the coup against Sharif. ‘I have suffered enormously from doing my duty as a civil servant. My friends, family and colleagues have been harassed. My life has been at risk,’ Malik told The Observer in his first UK interview since fleeing Pakistan for London after an attempt on his life 15 months ago. ‘I am not a politician, but I welcome the army’s action. They have saved Pakistan from someone who was ruining the country. As a career officer, I would like to return to fulfil my official obligations as soon as possible.’
He is also promising further explosive revelations, which will implicate Sharif and senior Muslim League politicians in allegedly creaming off more of the country’s wealth overseas.
Malik’s report last year was painful enough for the deposed Prime Minister, as were the cat-and-mouse tactics by which Malik has been a thorn in his side since. The 200-page report, smuggled into the country on Sharif’s official Jumbo jet, set out a secret web of fake bank accounts and firms in offshore tax havens through which Sharif’s family allegedly siphoned off more than $70 million (£40m) into London property, Swiss investments and banks in New York.
The family, whose empire grew hugely while Sharif was in office, was also accused of defaulting on $120m of state bank loans, a favourite way of milking the public purse.
According to further documents seen by The Observer, however, the revelations appear to be the tip of an iceberg. Following inquiries over the past year, Malik says he has established further channels by which the Sharif family channelled money illegally offshore.
They include $2.74m allegedly deposited in the account of an Essex-based Pakistani family at the Atlas BOT (Bank of Tokyo) Investment Bank in Lahore as security for loans to four Sharif family members. They also include $4.6m deposited at the Al Faysal Investment Bank in Islamabad as security for a loan to Hamza Board Mills, a paper and forestry firm in the Sharif family’s Ittefaq group.
Among all his amassed wealth, Sharif also appears to have concealed ownership of a Russian-made Ulan helicopter, which he used during election campaigns. The aircraft, worth more than $1m, was bought from an Arab prince, Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Nasir Al Thani of Qatar, in November 1996 and registered in Sharif’s name at the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority, according to official documents obtained by Malik. It was, however, not declared on Sharif’s statutory filing of assets and liabilities to the country’s Election Commission. ‘This was a man who once told me he could not afford a second-hand Mercedes. How then could he buy a helicopter?’ Malik asks.
Most explosive of all, however, is likely to be Malik’s new investigation, which is almost concluded and alleges laundering of more than $100m offshore via a network of UK trusts, Swiss accounts and offshore havens including Liechtenstein.
An Observer investigation has revealed other instances of alleged corruption during Sharif’s last administration:
• In an emergency budget after Pakistan’s nuclear tests last year, import duties on luxury cars were cut from 325 per cent to 125 per cent. A week later they were restored. In between a friend of Sharif imported 80 cars.
• In 1996 senior figures at Bankers Equity Limited, a finance house, granted a huge loan, believed to be more than £10m, to close associates of Sharif. Last summer the bank collapsed and several senior managers, including a friend of Sharif’s, were arrested. The loan is outstanding.
• After the 1997 elections the Sharif family, and their business concerns, were able to reschedule and renegotiate loans worth nearly £100m from eight banks. When ordered by courts to pay some back they surrendered 33 factories. Only one factory was fully operational, the rest closed, out of order, or both.
Sharif, his family and former Ministers have consistently dismissed the allegations as politically inspired.
Sharif himself is still in ‘preventative custody’, as the army calls it, in a government guesthouse on the outskirts of Islamabad. General Pervez Musharraf, the self-appointed Chief Executive of Pakistan, has not revealed his plans for the man ousted in a coup 10 days ago. Military sources say evidence is being gathered to put Sharif on trial for corruption and possibly treason.
Sharif’s former residence, the 100-acre Raiwind estate, near the city of Lahore in eastern Pakistan, is widely seen as a symbol of the opulent lifestyle the Sharifs have led since their pursuit of power and wealth began to pay off 15 years ago. Last week The Observer was the first Western newspaper to visit it since Sharif’s fall.
Brand new roads lead out of Lahore, where the Sharifs have two other houses, to the walled 100-acre estate. A turning leads to a helicopter pad and a set of steel gates. Beyond is an open, grassy compound where five houses, all in white-washed villa style, lie in a rough circle around a man-made pond. Each has a huge colonnaded porch sheltering a £20,000 four-wheel drive Jeep. Two of the buildings are partially constructed as is a pool, though a lake stocked with fish is completed. There is a small zoo.
All the houses are similar, with deep red carpets and velvet curtains throughout. Sharif’s own house is distinguished by the number of televisions – the Prime Minister was gadget crazy. Now army machine gunners have replaced the bodyguards who previously watched the compound’s perimeter. And the muzzles of their weapons point in as much as out.
Raiwind is, to the ousted Prime Minister’s critics at least, a symbol of how his administration manipulated government to benefit itself.
According to opposition spokesmen, Sharif has ‘used public office for personal economic gain’. It is corruption, they say, even if it is within the letter of the law.
Soon after coming to power for a second time in February 1997 Sharif declared the Raiwind site to be the ‘Prime Minister’s Camp Office’ – his home away from the capital. The local municipal authority took on the estate’s maintenance at an estimated annual cost of 40 million Pakistani rupees (£500,000) and built a new road for it, while the state has also supplied gas, electricity and a 200-line telephone exchange.
Near Raiwind last week feelings were mixed about Sharif’s fall. Many remain loyal to a man they see as a local boy made good. ‘He has done a lot round here,’ said Ahmadullah Ali, a farmer. ‘He is a good man.’ In the rough and tumble world of Pakistani politics Sharif may be down, but he still isn’t out.
[Note: This is a story from ‘The Guardian’ of October 1999; provided actual link above. Its importance also lies in its references towards ‘London properties’ and ‘Offshore Accounts; all that was just allegations then; these charges were always denied, Pakistani courts and government could never prove these; now with Panama Papers some of these have been accepted or getting confirmed; only God knows how many other charges and allegations are also true]
Living Like a King – Sharif’s Litany of Abuses – Kamran Khan
Living like a king — Sharif’s litany of abuses
News Intelligence Unit
By Kamran Khan
The News, 2000
[Note: the paras in italics, towards the bottom of the article, provide details of the London apartments and offshore accounts in the year 2000]
KARACHI: While constantly pleading with expatriate Pakistanis to send their hard-earned dollars to their motherland, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif caused a dent of at least Rs 110 crore to the national exchequer through the 28 foreign trips he undertook after assuming power on February 17, 1997.
Official documents seen by the News Intelligence Unit (NIU) disclosed that about Rs 15 crore were spent from the tax-payers money for Nawaz Sharif’s six Umra trips. For almost each of his foreign visits, Nawaz Sharif used his special Boeing plane that he had promised to return to PIA for commercial use in his famous national agenda speech in June last year.
Almost unbelievably, instead of keeping his promise to return this special aircraft to PIA, Sharif ordered an extravagant US$1.8 million renovation of his aircraft that turned the Boeing into an airborne palace. While reading sermons on austerity to the nation on almost every domestic tour, on this aircraft — on which all the seats were in a first class configuration — Nawaz Sharif and his entourage would always be served a specially-cooked, seven-course meal. PIA’s former chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had, in fact, hired a cook who was familiar with Sharif’s craze for a special type of ‘Gajrela’ (carrot dessert).
While aboard his special plane, Sharif was always served ‘Lassi’ or Badami milk in a Mughal style silver glass by a crew of his choice. Even on domestic flights, Sharif and his men would be served with Perrier water, not available even to first class domestic passengers. The towels he would use on board, had golden embroidery.
Not for a moment, after making his historic promise to the nation in June last year for leaving the palatial prime minister house for a modest residence in Islamabad, did Nawaz Sharif show any intention to leave the prime minister’s palace. On the contrary, soon after that speech, the Prime Minister House received fresh supplies of imported crockery and groceries.
Some of the permanent in-house residents were Sharif’s personal friends, including one Sajjad Shah who used to crack jokes and play songs for him. Sharif’s little-known political mentor Hasan Pirzada, who died last month, always lived at the Prime Minister House. Sources estimate that Pirzada’s daily guest-list to the PM House numbered around 100 people who were always served with meals or snacks.
In the first year of Nawaz Sharif’s second term in power, Hamid Asghar Kidwai of Mehran bank fame, lived and operated from the Prime Minister House until he was appointed Pakistan’s ambassador to Kenya.
While making unending promises of instituting merit in all appointments and selections, Sharif played havoc with the system while issuing personal directives by ordering 30 direct appointments of officers in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). While Sharif was ordering these unprecedented direct appointments, his crony Saifur Rahman was seeking strict punishment and disqualification of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto for making direct appointments in Pakistan International Airlines.
Out of these 30 people who were directly appointed on posts ranging from deputy director to inspector in the FIA — without interviews, examination or training — 28 were from Lahore and were all close to the Sharif family or his government. One of the lucky inductees was a nephew of President Rafiq Tarar.
Nawaz Sharif had such an incredible liking for his friends from Lahore or Central Punjab, that not a single non-Central Punjabi was included in his close circle, both at the political or administrative levels in the Prime Minister’s Office. At one point, during his tenure, there was not a single Sindhi-speaking active federal secretary in Islamabad.
For about the first 18 months of Sharif’s second term in office, 41 of the most important appointments in Pakistan were in the hands of individuals who were either from Lahore or Central Punjab, despite the total lack of representation of smaller provinces in State affairs. Sharif stunned even his cabinet by choosing Rafiq Tarar for the post of President.
His activities were almost totally Lahore or Punjab focussed, reflected by the fact that in the first 16 months of power, he had only one overnight stay in Karachi. Conversely, he held an open Kutchery on every Sunday in Lahore, a gesture he never showed in any of the smaller provinces.
Nawaz Sharif, who had always promised a ‘small government’ ended up with no less than 48 people with the status of a federal minister in his cabinet. Ironically, less than fifteen per cent of the people in 49-member cabinet came from the three smaller provinces.
While anti-corruption rhetoric always topped his public speeches, Nawaz Sharif demonstrated tremendous tolerance for corruption as he completely ignored strong evidence laden corruption reports against Liaquat Ali Jatoi and his aides in Karachi.
Sources said that volumes of documents on the corruption of Liaquat Ali Jatoi, his brother Senator Sadaqat Ali Jatoi, the then Sindh health secretary and several of Liaquat’s personal staff members were placed before Nawaz Sharif, but he never ordered any action. These sources said that Nawaz Sharif also ignored evidence that showed Liaquat’s newly discovered business interests in Dubai and London.
Informed official sources said that Nawaz Sharif also ignored reports, even those produced by Shahbaz Sharif, about rampant corruption in the Ehtesab Cell (EC). Shahbaz Sharif and several other cabinet ministers had informed Sharif that Khalid Aziz and Wasim Afzal, Saifur Rahman’s right-hand men in the EC were involved in institutionalised corruption through extortion from Ehtesab victims and manipulation of the Intelligence Bureau’s secret funds.
Sources said that the Ehtesab Cell had issued official departmental cards to one Sarfraz Merchant, involved in several cases of bootlegging and another to Mumtaz Burney, a multi-billionaire former police official who had earlier been sacked from the service for being hand in glove with a notorious drug baron. Sharif was told that these two notorious individuals were serving as middle men between Khalid Aziz, Wasim Afzal and those sought by the EC both here and abroad.
Fully aware that Khawer Zaman and Major General Enayet Niazi were amongst the most honest and upright director generals of the FIA, he booted them out only to be replaced by handpicked cronies such as Major (Retd) Mohammad Mushtaq.
Sources said that while posting Rana Maqbool Ahmed as the Inspector General Police, Sindh, Nawaz Sharif was reminded by his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif about his reputation as one of the most corrupt Punjab police officers and also about his shady past. But Nawaz Sharif not only installed Rana as the IGP, but also acted on his advice to remove Gen. Moinuddin Haider as the Governor Sindh.
In a startling paradox, right at the time when the government media campaign was at its peak about the properties of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in Britain, particularly Rockwood estate in Surrey, disclosures came to light about the Sharif family’s multi-million pound apartments in London’s posh district of Mayfair.
The apartment No: 16, 16a, 17 and 17a that form the third floor of the Avonfield House in Mayfair is the residential base for Sharif family in London. Records show that all those four apartments were in the name Nescoll Ltd and Nielson Ltd Ansbacher (BVI) Ltd, the two off-shore companies managed by Hans Rudolf Wegmuller of Banque Paribas en Suisse and Urs Specker — the two Swiss nationals alleged to be linked with Sharif’s offshore fortune.
In a knee-jerk reaction last year, Sharif first denied the ownership of those flats. Later, his younger son Hasan Nawaz Sharif said the family had leased only two of the flats, while their spokesmen, including former law minister Khalid Anwer, said that Sharif had actually rented those flats.
But what will count with legal experts is the fact that in their tax returns, none of the Sharif family members had ever showed any foreign ownership of any properties, nor had their tax returns listed payments for any rented apartments abroad.
“With the sale of these Mayfair apartments, you can buy three Rockwood-size properties of Asif Zardari,” commented a source, who added that Sharif’s third party owned properties in Britain may land them in a crisis comparable only with Benazir and Zardari’s cases abroad.
In another example of hypocrisy, while Sharif geared up his government’s campaign against loan defaulters in Pakistan, a High Court in London declared his family a defaulter and ordered them to pay US$ 18.8 million to Al-Towfeek Company and its subsidiary Al-Baraka Islamic Bank as payment for interest and loan they had borrowed for Hudabiya Papers Limited.
The court papers said that the Sharifs refused to make payments on the principle amount and instead directed official action against the Arab company’s business interests in Pakistan. Informed sources said that a few days before the fall of the Nawaz Sharif government on October 12, lawyers representing the Sharif family were busy in hectic behind-the-scenes negotiations with Al-Towfeek executives in London for an out-of-court settlement. These sources said that negotiations in London broke down soon after the army action in Islamabad.
While Nawaz Sharif deployed the entire state machinery and spent millions of dollars from the IB’s secret fund to prove money-laundering charges against Benazir Bhutto and her husband abroad, his government crushed any attempt by the FIA to move the Supreme Court of Pakistan against a decision handed down by the Lahore High Court absolving the Sharif family from money-laundering charges instituted against them by the last PPP government.
FIA officials who had investigated the money-laundering charges against the Sharifs faced termination from service, while the agency was told that even a decision to probe money-laundering was a crime. This particular case is likely to now go to the Supreme Court in the next few weeks.
[Note: Actual link of this article is not available on the net; this is a piece from ‘The News’ written by prominent Anchor person, Kamran Khan, who then headed the ‘News Intelligence Unit. This piece was written somewhere in year 2000, when cases against the Sharif family were still running in courts, after Musharraf’s take over. Importance of the article lies in the allegations, the references towards London Apartments, and the Offshore Accounts, being made then in the year 2000]
An Exclusive Talk With Sheikh Rasheed in Tonight With Moeed Pirzada !!!
The Parliamentarian and ex federal minister for railways, the Awami league chief Mr. Sheikh Rasheed expressed his views on the global Panama disclosures and the rapidly developing stances of the political spectrum.
Mr.Rasheed said that in the light of recent events, according to his sources, Miss Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif might be appointed the caretaking Prime Minister under a constitutional act.
In this special interview he also said that Hamza Shehbaz and Shehbaz Sharif’s persistent silences on the whole fiasco are indications of the fact that they have not been considered for Prime Minister-ship. He said that if proper judicial inquiries are not carried out then there is a risk of general unrest and probable hostility. Mr Rasheed said that these events are leading to the seclusion of the army, the country has been infested with thieves and they’re adamant on their felonies. On the other hand the United States of America and India are signing agreements after the result of which the US would be able to occupy Indian soil, which would be dangerous to the Pak-China economic corridor.
On the probable coalition between PPP and PML (N) he said that this coalition was only possible if the government agreed to five conditions:
1. The withdrawal of Rangers and the FIA from Karachi
2. The release of Doctor Asim
3. The closure of corruption cases in NAB and FBR
4. The guarantee of a free pass in case Mr.Zardari enters Pakistan
etc
He also said that Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan ought to act according to his stature and age for once and stand on firm moral grounds in this crisis
Mr.Rasheed was of the opinion that the only solstice for Mr.Sharif was in the case that he makes sure the assemblage of a judicial commission which should investigate this matter thoroughly.
The Awami league chief said that the military does not want to intervene in this messy affair and it is the military’s utmost desire that this matter be resolved via the Supreme Court. In the case that the judgement does not come in favor of the Prime minster, he will have to go home before sunset.
Mr. Rasheed also expressed his anger on the fact that his microphone is shut out purposely in the Parliament and his speeches are not broadcasted on national television. Hence he does not have any other choice but to take to the streets.
US Position on Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif after Panama Files Leaks & its Importance?
A question was asked in US State Dept briefing that given accusations of corruption and demands by Pakistani Political parties that PM Nawaz Sharif resign, what will US do? Will it continue to support the democratically elected Prime Minister or will it ask him to go home? Before I analyze what the response of ‘State Dept’ means for the beleaguered PM Nawaz Sharif, I want everyone to read the comment himself or herself. So I provide the link and actual text below.
Link to US State Department Site & Comment:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/04/255823.htm#PAKISTAN
QUESTION: Sir, the political parties in Pakistan have launched a campaign against Prime Minister Sharif to resign after the accusations of corruption in Panama Papers. The question is that will United States support the democratic elected prime minister of Pakistan, or you want to see the corrupt leaders go home?
MR KIRBY: Well, look, these are decisions that the Pakistani people have to make, and we’ve talked about this before. Separate and distinct from that – and I’m not talking about this specific case – the Secretary has also been very clear about the dangers of corruption around the world and what that does to fuel extremism and to increase economic instability and the corrosive effect that it can have on entire societies. So corruption is something we obviously take very seriously. You heard about it yesterday when we released our Human Rights Report. But in terms of this particular case, I mean, these are decisions that the Pakistani people have to make
Analysis: What does these comments mean?
I briefly commented on this in my today’s program at 8pm. But this is a very awkward moment for PM Nawaz Sharif, his family, PMLN and all his supporters and of great importance to his detractors, students of Pakistani history and democracy and all need to understand this.
US government is saying that the decision to send ‘PM Nawaz Sharif’ home lies with the people of Pakistan. This is the only position they can have at this stage since no crowds are out on streets in Islamabad or Lahore or Karachi or other cities – not at this moment. And so far the Pakistani political parties are all trying to preserve the status quo with the exception of Imran Khan’s PTI and Jammat-e-Islami.
However the comment that follows holds the key and settles Nawaz Sharif’s future. This is the part, Pakistani politicians, businessmen, bureaucracies and media have not absorbed, not grasped so far. But they will soon, within the next 24-48 hours. US government is saying that its position is crystal clear on issues of “corruption of key public officials”. Keep in mind that ‘Panama Leaks’ on Pakistan are not about the corruption of a property developer, a film star or arms dealer. These allegations are directly related to the Prime Minister and his family – a family that has remained in political control of Pakistan, or most of it, for the greater part since 1981. US government considers such ‘public place and political corruption’ a threat to economic stability, a cause of extremism, a corrosive effect for the whole social order and of concern to the whole world. Additionally US government considers it a threat to human rights, as it has made clear in its recent report. Secretary of State, John Kerry has also made himself clear on this issue.
Now this position is in sharp contrast, a total reversal of the previous international stand point. Two years ago, in mid 2014, when Imran Khan and Qadri launched their campaign against Nawaz Sharif, almost all western governments, key institutions and mainstream media – like New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, BBC etc – supported Nawaz Sharif. Then, west saw Imran Khan and Qadri acting as ‘shock troopers’ for Pakistani military. US, UK and EU feared – though it was misplaced – that Pakistani military was trying to disperse an elected Prime Minister by creating chaos. I am one of the few journalists in Islamabad who have enjoyed highest possible and quality access – though strictly Off the record under the diplomatic conventions- to the diplomatic missions in Islamabad for the past several years and I know that to the last man, diplomats were convinced that Imran Khan and Qadri were ‘chaos mongers’ and were acting on ‘instigation of military’ and the only purpose is to bring down an elected government. While this was an exaggerated panic view, nothing like that was happening or could have happened, but there were links between sections of the security establishment and men close to Dr. Qadri. Imran Khan kept on talking in multiple and contradictory tones, setting new goal posts – like his single point demand of PM’s Resignation – and losing his actual plot of ‘Electoral Accountability’ and ‘Electoral Reform’. And PMLN was successful in planting ‘different sets of disinformation’ in ‘different audiences’. So to international community PMLN conveyed that the ‘crowds on Pakistani streets’ represented military and for ‘PMLN support base’ Imran Khan and Qadri were represented an American/Jewish conspiracy against ‘China Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC) and Imran Khan wanted to fail the visit of Chinese President. (PMLN is still trying to do, something similar, but won’t succeed this time around)
Now the international position has reversed. And there are very good and solid reasons for that. Panama Files is an international scandal; it has a full bloodied narrative around it; its target is not Pakistan but the whole world has been jolted by it. Its dynamics are beyond anyone or any institution in Pakistan. Just today, Spain’s Minister of Industry, Jose Manuel Soria has been forced to resign. These revelations would not have been much of a scandal 20 years ago. But world has changed; events since 9/11, have gradually transformed the key global institutions and political thinking. With ever greater integration because of increasing technology, need for international regulation is much more strongly felt than it was 20 years ago. Today mega-corruption is considered responsible for societal meltdown, for fomenting extremism and is a threat to human rights. This is precisely what Sate Department is saying.
And State Dept is signaling that Nawaz Sharif can not get any support from Washington. This means, no support from London, no support from EU and this means no friendly articles in New York Times, Washington Post and Guardian. And this means, no chances of demonizing his enemies – the way PMLN was able to to in 2014. Had Sharif family any hopes of finding relief from ‘truth’ they could have sued Guardian and ICIJ in London. That could have really helped. But they are only trying to fight it inside Pakistan by using the old tactics: Judicial Commission under some ‘old loyalist’; Deal with Zardari; Nothing has been proved in courts; Army is conspiring against the democracy; Imran Khan is a Jewish agent, Corruption in SKMC and demonstration against Jemima Khan in London etc etc. Vitriol against Aitzaz Ahsan is the latest part of this directionless anger – and it will soon turn into ‘frustration of impotence and helplessness’. PMLN’s winter has set in. I sat through and watched PMLN leaders speak in several tv programs and I could only sympathize with them; they have nothing to say.
The next few days are important. Much documentary evidence is now available to Pakistani media, producers and Anchors of TV programs, newspaper editors and all anyone, any media organization has to do is to collect all of these pieces of evidence: court judgements in London, FIA Report of 1993-96; interviews of Hassan Nawaz on BBC in Nov 1999, and Hussain Nawaz with Javaid Ch in 2016, and series of articles published in Pakistani and international media since 1998 and you don’t even need a ‘Commission’. All educated people will be able to read and make judgements for themselves. This is what happens in educated societies. You don’t need ‘Commissions’ to prove what stands in front of you like an ‘open and visible reality’. And ‘Commissions’ in South Asia have always been set up to postpone, to get rid of difficult moments, to bury things and realities and crimes. Did I recently tweeted that “Imran Khan is capable of shooting himself in the foot”. Imran may pose the biggest challenge to PMLN’s family run empire, but he often provides them their ‘best rescue’ as well.
Supreme court is right; its not judiciary’s job to investigate; Imran Khan is wrong; it is the job of Govt and Executive. But Imran Khan knows: what we all know; that Pakistan does not have any institution, any government agency that can investigate a sitting Prime Minister. What do we have: FIA? IB? Police? Give me a break. Oh! let me first throw up! It is now a political battle; this will be fought in public arena. It is up to ‘aware citizenry’ to shape it, to take it forward and to check all those ‘prostitutes’ in media and public space that are ready to receive ‘truck loads of cash’. Their job will be to create ‘false options’. They will cry: CIA Conspiracy, CPEC in danger, corrupt Aitzaz the loser, and that ‘International Audit Firms’ are Jewish and against Islam. You will hear all this nonsense adnauseum; but trust me: Melt down has started. Allah kay han, der hay total andher nahin!
US position on Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif after Panama files leaks & its importance?
Moeed Pirzada |
A question was asked in US State Dept briefing that given accusations of corruption and demands by Pakistani Political parties that PM Nawaz Sharif resign, what will US do? Will it continue to support the democratically elected Prime Minister or will it ask him to go home? Before I analyze what the response of ‘State Dept’ means for the beleaguered PM Nawaz Sharif, I want everyone to read the comment himself or herself. So I provide the link and actual text below.
Link to US State Department Site & Comment
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/04/255823.htm#PAKISTAN
QUESTION: Sir, the political parties in Pakistan have launched a campaign against Prime Minister Sharif to resign after the accusations of corruption in Panama Papers. The question is that will United States support the democratic elected prime minister of Pakistan, or you want to see the corrupt leaders go home?
MR KIRBY: Well, look, these are decisions that the Pakistani people have to make, and we’ve talked about this before. Separate and distinct from that – and I’m not talking about this specific case – the Secretary has also been very clear about the dangers of corruption around the world and what that does to fuel extremism and to increase economic instability and the corrosive effect that it can have on entire societies. So corruption is something we obviously take very seriously. You heard about it yesterday when we released our Human Rights Report. But in terms of this particular case, I mean, these are decisions that the Pakistani people have to make.
Analysis: What do these comments mean?
I briefly commented on this in my today’s program at 8pm. But this is a very awkward moment for PM Nawaz Sharif, his family, PMLN and all his supporters and of great importance to his detractors, students of Pakistani history and democracy and all need to understand this.
Read more: UAE Financial Regulations may soon become Pakistan’s next political scandal
US government is saying that the decision to send ‘PM Nawaz Sharif’ home lies with the people of Pakistan. This is the only position they can have at this stage since no crowds are out on streets in Islamabad or Lahore or Karachi or other cities – not at this moment. And so far the Pakistani political parties are all trying to preserve the status quo with the exception of Imran Khan’s PTI and Jammat-e-Islami.
Supreme court is right; its not judiciary’s job to investigate; Imran Khan is wrong; it is the job of Govt and Executive. But Imran Khan knows: what we all know; that Pakistan does not have any institution, any government agency that can investigate a sitting Prime Minister.
However the comment that follows holds the key and settles Nawaz Sharif’s future. This is the part, Pakistani politicians, businessmen, bureaucracies and media have not absorbed, not grasped so far. But they will soon, within the next 24-48 hours. US government is saying that its position is crystal clear on issues of “corruption of key public officials”. Keep in mind that ‘Panama Leaks’ on Pakistan are not about the corruption of a property developer, a film star or arms dealer. These allegations are directly related to the Prime Minister and his family – a family that has remained in political control of Pakistan, or most of it, for the greater part since 1981. US government considers such ‘public place and political corruption’ a threat to economic stability, a cause of extremism, a corrosive effect for the whole social order and of concern to the whole world. Additionally US government considers it a threat to human rights, as it has made clear in its recent report. Secretary of State, John Kerry has also made himself clear on this issue.
Now this position is in sharp contrast, a total reversal of the previous international stand point. Two years ago, in mid 2014, when Imran Khan and Qadri launched their campaign against Nawaz Sharif, almost all western governments, key institutions and mainstream media – like New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, BBC etc – supported Nawaz Sharif. Then, west saw Imran Khan and Qadri acting as ‘shock troopers’ for Pakistani military. US, UK and EU feared – though it was misplaced – that Pakistani military was trying to disperse an elected Prime Minister by creating chaos.
I am one of the few journalists in Islamabad who have enjoyed highest possible and quality access – though strictly Off the record under the diplomatic conventions- to the diplomatic missions in Islamabad for the past several years and I know that to the last man, diplomats were convinced that Imran Khan and Qadri were ‘chaos mongers’ and were acting on ‘instigation of military’ and the only purpose is to bring down an elected government. While this was an exaggerated panic view, nothing like that was happening or could have happened, but there were links between sections of the security establishment and men close to Dr. Qadri. Imran Khan kept on talking in multiple and contradictory tones, setting new goal posts – like his single point demand of PM’s Resignation – and losing his actual plot of ‘Electoral Accountability’ and ‘Electoral Reform’. And PMLN was successful in planting ‘different sets of disinformation’ in ‘different audiences’.
So to international community PMLN conveyed that the ‘crowds on Pakistani streets’ represented military and for ‘PMLN support base’ Imran Khan and Qadri were represented an American/Jewish conspiracy against ‘China Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC) and Imran Khan wanted to fail the visit of Chinese President. (PMLN is still trying to do, something similar, but won’t succeed this time around)
Now the international position has reversed. And there are very good and solid reasons for that. Panama Files is an international scandal; it has a full bloodied narrative around it; its target is not Pakistan but the whole world has been jolted by it. Its dynamics are beyond anyone or any institution in Pakistan. Just today, Spain’s Minister of Industry, Jose Manuel Soria has been forced to resign. These revelations would not have been much of a scandal 20 years ago. But world has changed; events since 9/11, have gradually transformed the key global institutions and political thinking. With ever greater integration because of increasing technology, need for international regulation is much more strongly felt than it was 20 years ago. Today mega-corruption is considered responsible for societal meltdown, for fomenting extremism and is a threat to human rights. This is precisely what Sate Department is saying.
Read more: Panama Case: Why German Paper’s disclosure may be extremely damaging for Sharif Family?
And State Dept is signaling that Nawaz Sharif can not get any support from Washington. This means, no support from London, no support from EU and this means no friendly articles in New York Times, Washington Post and Guardian. And this means, no chances of demonizing his enemies – the way PMLN was able to to in 2014. Had Sharif family any hopes of finding relief from ‘truth’ they could have sued Guardian and ICIJ in London. That could have really helped. But they are only trying to fight it inside Pakistan by using the old tactics: Judicial Commission under some ‘old loyalist’; Deal with Zardari; Nothing has been proved in courts; Army is conspiring against the democracy; Imran Khan is a Jewish agent, Corruption in SKMC and demonstration against Jemima Khan in London etc etc. Vitriol against Aitzaz Ahsan is the latest part of this directionless anger – and it will soon turn into ‘frustration of impotence and helplessness’. PMLN’s winter has set in. I sat through and watched PMLN leaders speak in several tv programs and I could only sympathize with them; they have nothing to say.
US government is saying that the decision to send ‘PM Nawaz Sharif’ home lies with the people of Pakistan. This is the only position they can have at this stage since no crowds are out on streets in Islamabad or Lahore or Karachi or other cities – not at this moment.
The next few days are important. Much documentary evidence is now available to Pakistani media, producers and Anchors of TV programs, newspaper editors and all anyone, any media organization has to do is to collect all of these pieces of evidence: court judgements in London, FIA Report of 1993-96; interviews of Hassan Nawaz on BBC in Nov 1999, and Hussain Nawaz with Javaid Ch in 2016, and series of articles published in Pakistani and international media since 1998 and you don’t even need a ‘Commission’. All educated people will be able to read and make judgements for themselves. This is what happens in educated societies. You don’t need ‘Commissions’ to prove what stands in front of you like an ‘open and visible reality’. And ‘Commissions’ in South Asia have always been set up to postpone, to get rid of difficult moments, to bury things and realities and crimes. Did I recently tweeted that “Imran Khan is capable of shooting himself in the foot”. Imran may pose the biggest challenge to PMLN’s family run empire, but he often provides them their ‘best rescue’ as well.
Supreme court is right; its not judiciary’s job to investigate; Imran Khan is wrong; it is the job of Govt and Executive. But Imran Khan knows: what we all know; that Pakistan does not have any institution, any government agency that can investigate a sitting Prime Minister. What do we have: FIA? IB? Police? Give me a break. Oh! let me first throw up! It is now a political battle; this will be fought in public arena. It is up to ‘aware citizenry’ to shape it, to take it forward and to check all those ‘prostitutes’ in media and public space that are ready to receive ‘truck loads of cash’. Their job will be to create ‘false options’. They will cry: CIA Conspiracy, CPEC in danger, corrupt Aitzaz the loser, and that ‘International Audit Firms’ are Jewish and against Islam. You will hear all this nonsense adnauseum; but trust me: Melt down has started. Allah kay han, der hay total andher nahin!
Moeed Pirzada is prominent TV Anchor & commentator; he studied international relations at Columbia Univ, New York and law at London School of Economics. Twitter: MoeedNj. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy. This piece was first published in Moeed Pirzada’s official page. It has been reproduced with permission.
Nawaz-Zardari Meeting in London: Yeh tu wohi jaga hay, guzray thehy hum jahan say?
Many of us remember the ‘All Parties Conference in London’ in the July of 2007. Then it was supposedly an alliance of the democratic parties against the dictatorship. Many of us believed it; though I am sure there were ‘wise old people’ around who knew how to interpret all that gala affair – the real meaning behind the fancy words. But Much water has flown under the bridge since then. And hindsight is always 20/20. Now reflecting back, we can safely say that it was a’Grand Alliance of the Criminals and Crooks’ against the ‘people of Pakistan’
What was behind that grand alliance? It had an interesting troubled history. Sharif family – and what later became PMLN – had inherited the mantle of Gen. Zia’s barbaric regime. Zia and cohorts had hanged Bhutto; by the end 1980’s it was becoming obvious that despite all the machinations of military rulers, PPP and its hitherto charismatic leader, Benazir Bhutto (who later lost most of her charisma under the stink of corruption) was a force to reckon with, and would spring back to power sooner or later. Sharif’s were then cultivated as the ‘bulwark’ against the PPP, against its supposedly left of the center politics and possible revanchism by Benazir – whose father was hanged by Gen. Zia and Company.
Given these dynamics, Sharif’s were born in politics as ‘congenital enemies’ of Benazir Bhutto and PPP. And then, before the ‘democratic awakenings’ of 2007, they had no qualms about it. They inherited Gen. Zia’s mantle, accepted it obediently and faithfully, and played a huge role in reducing and containing PPP in Punjab. The decade of 1990’s was thus a period of ‘dirty fighting’ between the two political entities; descendants of ZA Bhutto represented by Benazir and political offsprings of Gen. Zia in the form of Sharifs and PMLN. Meaningful truce was thus not possible; it was not practical, it made no sense. Both sides tried fighting like two wild wrestlers, who push and pull, drag and scratch, kick and bleed each other in the hope of knocking out the other – out of the ring for ever. Rehman Malik lead investigations, in 1993-96 which have provided the bedrock to the ‘Panama Files’ and Senator Saifur Rehman’s hiring of international detectives to expose ‘SGS/Cotecna’ corruption of Benazir and Zardari that became famous as ‘Swiss Cases’ was all part of that belief that we will knock out the other out of politics – and will then rule for ever.
It did not happen. Something else happened. While both sides were kicked out of power twice, in a trilateral struggle for control between them and the military establishment. It was not what made their minds. At least the final crystallization of strategies, the final realization of ‘what we should do’ came later. It was the arrival of ‘Gen. Musharraf’ on the horizon who instead of playing the old game of ‘bringing the other in’ thought of himself as a ‘messiah’. Benazir who welcomed Nawaz’s ouster and held out an ‘olive branch’ to Musharraf, tried her level best to rekindle her fortunes on the ‘misery of Sharifs’ but was rebuffed by Musharraf, who had ideas of his own and who went on creating a ‘third pole’ of politics through the Chaudhries and PMLQ.
Benazir, who had become, courtesy ‘Swiss Cases’ a ‘persona non grata’ in the west, finally landed in Washington, in early 2006, with the plea that ‘Musharraf is playing double games in Afghanistan; and I will serve American power more faithfully under the banner of democracy’. A quintessentially flawed and immoral plan, viciously supported by many in the media and civil society, that manifested itself in the form of Pakistan’s most infamous political deal: The NRO. But Benazir was less interested in joining Nawaz; her power base was Washington. But this credit goes to Nawaz that he persuaded her to create a common front against Musharraf – at least she created the optics. Till her death, she the astute politician, was not much impressed by Nawaz’s ‘common front’ theory. For her, all that was a ‘convenient for the time’ tactic to empower her. Nothing more than that. And she considered ‘lawyers movement’ Nawaz’s illegitimate baby financed from London.
But painful time in jail and the misery of solitude of Saroor Palace had convinced Nawaz that the real enemy is ‘Pakistan Army’. And if he collects Benazir, PPP and all others under a common banner of democracy (not that he cares an iota about it) against the army then they can together rule for ever. This mentality, this framework, this idea defined and fueled the Pakistani politics from 2007 onwards – and finally lead Nawaz to fall like a teenage girl in Modi’s tight embrace. Benazir died at the hands of ‘mysterious killers’ but Zardari who inherited her power, her politics, her everything continued with the deal. The politics of past nine years, often derided as the ‘muk mukka’ was essentially based on the principle that ‘together we survive’.
Occasional skirmishing was essential to fool the public, to give ‘masala’ to the media and to create impressions of ‘distinct political entities’ which is needed for the game of elections. But while it is always possible to fool the majority endlessly, the real challenge is to cheat, confuse and split what is called the ‘aware citizenry’. This also worked well initially – thanks to many in the media, legal community and civil society – but with the advent of Imran Khan’s PTI as the third entity of Pakistani politics, this became increasingly more and more cumbersome and more and more difficult. And by now almost all, who have some functioning brain cells or some molecules of integrity could see and spell out that Nawaz and Zardari could have different bodily forms, dress sense, tastes of cuisine or woman but they both represent the same pole of Pakistani politics.
But the million dollar question is: Will they be able to fool the ‘aware citizenry’ once again? True, the genie of ‘mammon’ is out in the air again,those who pleaded the virtues of NRO for saving democracy, those who described ‘lawyers movement’ as a ‘revolution’, those who demonized the 2014 movement against the rigging in elections as ‘attack on democracy’ and the ‘social media teams’ paid by national exchequer will again be assembled, marshaled and paraded to cry mantras of ‘democracy under attack’ but will they be able to fool countless young men and women again?
‘Yeh tu wohi jaga hay, guzray thehy hum jahan say’! Reflecting back, after nine year, on ‘All Parties Conference in London’ in July of 2007, we now know one fact for sure: it was many things but it was not for democracy. It was an ‘Alliance of the Crooks and Criminals’ against the best interests of the people of Pakistan. It was an arrangement to make few families more and more rich, powerful and politically entrenched. It was a conspiracy to stifle new political growth, a conspiracy against democracy in the name of democracy. It was ‘rape in the name of love’.
Will they be able to fool us again? Will they be able to distribute the goodies to split the public opinion again? Panama Files has landed upon them from the skies; its not possible to sell this as an ‘establishment plan’. And thanks God, ‘khakhis’ are not visible any where, for their ‘brain waves’ are capable of causing more harm than good. Panama Files implicates both of them: the Doctor and his patient. Dr. Zardari, suffers from the same malaise, same pathology, same itch; how can he treat, put balm and bail out his ‘most desperate patient’?. This remains to be seen. This moment is not a test for democracy; this is a test of our ‘common sense’.
Nawaz-Zardari Meeting in London: Yeh tu wohi jaga hay, guzray thehy hum jahan say?
Moeed Pirzada |
Many of us remember the ‘All Parties Conference in London’ in the July of 2007. Then it was supposedly an alliance of the democratic parties against the dictatorship. Many of us believed it; though I am sure there were ‘wise old people’ around who knew how to interpret all that gala affair – the real meaning behind the fancy words. But Much water has flown under the bridge since then. And hindsight is always 20/20. Now reflecting back, we can safely say that it was a’Grand Alliance of the Criminals and Crooks’ against the ‘people of Pakistan’
What was behind that grand alliance? It had an interesting troubled history. Sharif family – and what later became PMLN – had inherited the mantle of Gen. Zia’s barbaric regime. Zia and cohorts had hanged Bhutto; by the end 1980’s it was becoming obvious that despite all the machinations of military rulers, PPP and its hitherto charismatic leader, Benazir Bhutto (who later lost most of her charisma under the stink of corruption) was a force to reckon with, and would spring back to power sooner or later. Sharif’s were then cultivated as the ‘bulwark’ against the PPP, against its supposedly left of the center politics and possible revanchism by Benazir – whose father was hanged by Gen. Zia and Company.
‘Yeh tu wohi jaga hay, guzray thehy hum jahan say’! Reflecting back, after nine year, on ‘All Parties Conference in London’ in July of 2007, we now know one fact for sure: it was many things but it was not for democracy.
Given these dynamics, Sharif’s were born in politics as ‘congenital enemies’ of Benazir Bhutto and PPP. And then, before the ‘democratic awakenings’ of 2007, they had no qualms about it. They inherited Gen. Zia’s mantle, accepted it obediently and faithfully, and played a huge role in reducing and containing PPP in Punjab. The decade of 1990’s was thus a period of ‘dirty fighting’ between the two political entities; descendants of ZA Bhutto represented by Benazir and political offsprings of Gen. Zia in the form of Sharifs and PMLN. Meaningful truce was thus not possible; it was not practical, it made no sense. Both sides tried fighting like two wild wrestlers, who push and pull, drag and scratch, kick and bleed each other in the hope of knocking out the other – out of the ring for ever. Rehman Malik lead investigations, in 1993-96 which have provided the bedrock to the ‘Panama Files’ and Senator Saifur Rehman’s hiring of international detectives to expose ‘SGS/Cotecna’ corruption of Benazir and Zardari that became famous as ‘Swiss Cases’ was all part of that belief that we will knock out the other out of politics – and will then rule forever.
Read more: Pakistan’s Civil-Military Relations: Internal Battlefronts Exposed from Media Leak
It did not happen. Something else happened. While both sides were kicked out of power twice, in a trilateral struggle for control between them and the military establishment. It was not what made their minds. At least the final crystallization of strategies, the final realization of ‘what we should do’ came later. It was the arrival of ‘Gen. Musharraf’ on the horizon who instead of playing the old game of ‘bringing the other in’ thought of himself as a ‘messiah’. Benazir who welcomed Nawaz’s ouster and held out an ‘olive branch’ to Musharraf, tried her level best to rekindle her fortunes on the ‘misery of Sharifs’ but was rebuffed by Musharraf, who had ideas of his own and who went on creating a ‘third pole’ of politics through the Chaudhries and PMLQ.
Benazir, who had become, courtesy ‘Swiss Cases’ a ‘persona non grata’ in the west, finally landed in Washington, in early 2006, with the plea that ‘Musharraf is playing double games in Afghanistan; and I will serve American power more faithfully under the banner of democracy’. A quintessentially flawed and immoral plan, viciously supported by many in the media and civil society, that manifested itself in the form of Pakistan’s most infamous political deal: The NRO. But Benazir was less interested in joining Nawaz; her power base was Washington. But this credit goes to Nawaz that he persuaded her to create a common front against Musharraf – at least she created the optics. Till her death, she the astute politician, was not much impressed by Nawaz’s ‘common front’ theory. For her, all that was a ‘convenient for the time’ tactic to empower her. Nothing more than that. And she considered ‘lawyers movement’ Nawaz’s illegitimate baby financed from London.
But painful time in jail and the misery of solitude of Saroor Palace had convinced Nawaz that the real enemy is ‘Pakistan Army’. And if he collects Benazir, PPP and all others under a common banner of democracy (not that he cares an iota about it) against the army then they can together rule forever. This mentality, this framework, this idea defined and fueled the Pakistani politics from 2007 onwards – and finally lead Nawaz to fall like a teenage girl in Modi’s tight embrace. Benazir died at the hands of ‘mysterious killers’ but Zardari who inherited her power, her politics, her everything continued with the deal. The politics of past nine years, often derided as the ‘muk mukka’ was essentially based on the principle that ‘together we survive’.
Occasional skirmishing was essential to fool the public, to give ‘masala’ to the media and to create impressions of ‘distinct political entities’ which is needed for the game of elections. But while it is always possible to fool the majority endlessly, the real challenge is to cheat, confuse and split what is called the ‘aware citizenry’. This also worked well initially – thanks to many in the media, legal community and civil society – but with the advent of Imran Khan’s PTI as the third entity of Pakistani politics, this became increasingly more and more cumbersome and more and more difficult. And by now almost all, who have some functioning brain cells or some molecules of integrity could see and spell out that Nawaz and Zardari could have different bodily forms, dress sense, tastes of cuisine or woman but they both represent the same pole of Pakistani politics.
painful time in jail and the misery of solitude of Saroor Palace had convinced Nawaz that the real enemy is ‘Pakistan Army’. And if he collects Benazir, PPP and all others under a common banner of democracy (not that he cares an iota about it) against the army then they can together rule for ever.
But the million dollar question is: Will they be able to fool the ‘aware citizenry’ once again? True, the genie of ‘mammon’ is out in the air again,those who pleaded the virtues of NRO for saving democracy, those who described ‘lawyers movement’ as a ‘revolution’, those who demonized the 2014 movement against the rigging in elections as ‘attack on democracy’ and the ‘social media teams’ paid by national exchequer will again be assembled, marshaled and paraded to cry mantras of ‘democracy under attack’ but will they be able to fool countless young men and women again?
Sharif’s were born in politics as ‘congenital enemies’ of Benazir Bhutto and PPP. And then, before the ‘democratic awakenings’ of 2007, they had no qualms about it. They inherited Gen. Zia’s mantle, accepted it obediently and faithfully, and played a huge role in reducing and containing PPP in Punjab.
Read more: Nawaz, Modi, Dawn & Pakistan Army: What is happening & Why?
‘Yeh tu wohi jaga hay, guzray thehy hum jahan say’! Reflecting back, after nine year, on ‘All Parties Conference in London’ in July of 2007, we now know one fact for sure: it was many things but it was not for democracy. It was an ‘Alliance of the Crooks and Criminals’ against the best interests of the people of Pakistan. It was an arrangement to make few families more and more rich, powerful and politically entrenched. It was a conspiracy to stifle new political growth, a conspiracy against democracy in the name of democracy. It was ‘rape in the name of love’.
Will they be able to fool us again? Will they be able to distribute the goodies to split the public opinion again? Panama Files has landed upon them from the skies; its not possible to sell this as an ‘establishment plan’. And thanks God, ‘khakhis’ are not visible any where, for their ‘brain waves’ are capable of causing more harm than good. Panama Files implicates both of them: the Doctor and his patient. Dr. Zardari, suffers from the same malaise, same pathology, same itch; how can he treat, put balm and bail out his ‘most desperate patient’?. This remains to be seen. This moment is not a test for democracy; this is a test of our ‘common sense’.
Moeed Pirzada is prominent TV Anchor & commentator; he studied international relations at Columbia Univ, New York and law at London School of Economics. Twitter: MoeedNj. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy. This piece was first published in Moeed Pirzada’s official page. It has been reproduced with permission.
“Propaganda Wars: How Anti-State Elements Use Media” – Lecture by Dr. Moeed Pirzada at “Eighth National Media Workshop: Empowering Through Enlightenment” at National Defense University Islamabad, on 12th April, 2016.
Dr. Moeed Pirzada lectured at the Eighth National Media Workshop at National Defense University Islamabad, on 12th April. Topic of his lecture and subsequent discussion was: “Propaganda Wars: How Anti-State Elements use Media”. Dr Pirzada explained the history and concept of propaganda with the help of powerpoint slides, video clips and short extracts from films and documentaries. He initiated by showing some mind wobbling videos of medical procedures where hypnotism was used, with suggestions, for painful surgical procedures without any kind of local or general anesthesia. He explained how ‘Neurolinguistic Programing (NLP) lies at the very root of propaganda and how human mind is susceptible to believe what is repeated again and again in the form of suggestions – and how mass media can build upon this aspect of human mind and consciousness. While NLP and propaganda were always used, even by the ancient Greeks and by religious leaders, kings and generals from times immemorial but it assumed special significance by the advent of industrial technology and development of modern media in 20th century.
Dr. Pirzada outlined the basic goals of propaganda against the Pakistani state and the techniques used by different sides from savvy Indian media to the Islamist Talibans.
One hour lecture was followed by an hour long heated discussion with 75 participants who were selected from amongst hundreds of applicants from media, universities, think tanks, political parties and civil society organizations. Several civil servants and parliamentarians – MPAs’, MNA’s and Senators – were also among the participants. Discussion remained focus on the issues and techniques of narrative building, why Pakistan is mostly defending itself instead of presenting its own ‘forward narrative’ and what can be done. Dr. Moeed Pirzada also mentioned Shafqat Hussain death penalty case where by an anti-terrorism court sentenced him death penalty for kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old boy in Karachi in 2004. He asserted as how International NGO’s used this case to build a image and drew international attention as Pakistan was hanging juveniles but in reality he was an adult at the time of his conviction.
Dr. Pirzada emphasized upon the autonomy and depoliticization of state institutions like Pakistan Television (Ptv) and PEMRA. While commenting on Anti-State propaganda he critically differentiate the popular myth of mixing State with Government. He asserted that it is high time that Ministry of Information be either scrapped or seriously reformed. DG ISSRA, Maj. General Noel Khokhar summed up the discussion and offered his comments in the end and then participants continued the discussion at lunch.
Tonight With Moeed Pirzada: Panama Leaks & Saleem Mandviwala Disclosures !!!
Senator Saleem Mandwevaala presents his verdict on the Panama Files dilemma. Dr Pirzada enquiresthe senator of the Senate’s narrative about the Panama files.Mr Mandwevaala said that there are many off shore companies and business benefits situated acrossthe world there’s nothing constitutionally out of order, but it is a question of moral integrity for a statesman to be involved in such disclosures.Peoples Party elite Mr. Javed Pasha was also implicated in the papers, alongside prominent party premiers and Benazir Bhutto herself.The main incentive of all the discussion is to diffuse the issue. The question is why ppp is silent on the matter? Mr Mandwevaala said that the people’s party wants the implicated persons to address the issue constitutionally and with a distinctive moral responsibility He went to add that the need of the moment is that the PM should appear in front of the Parliament. Since Pakistan follows British democracy and the British prime minster has been accused and he has presented his Financials The Pakistani prime minister, Mr Mandwevaala said, should be held accountable for his actions. The narrative that the Prime Minister hasn’t been accused of any felony is completely false Dr Pirzada asked Mr.Mandvewala why the Pakistan Peoples party hasn’t shown any distinct reaction on the matter? Peoples party stays clear on its stance that it should be completely probed via proper channels. Mr Mandvewalla was asked what people’s party’s stance is on the PTI reaction and Why is Bilawal Bhutto planning a visit. To that, the senator replied that There will be a discussion by the party leadership as to what statement should be issued against the matter publicly.Dr Pirzada went on to ask the senator that with him being the Chariman for finance affairs in the senate,
Tonight With Moeed Pirzada: Panama Leaks & Imran Khan’s address to Nation !!!
Dr. Moeed Pirzada in his first part of show analyzed the Imran Khan’s address to nation which was long awaited for whole day. Dr. Pirzada told his viewers that bookies have now set odds for next leader to resign after Panama Papers and the rate to Pakistani PM 1-10, Argentinean President 1-8 while Ukrainian President 1-12, British PM is 1-20.
It was also pointed out that Imran Khan has finally demanded the resignation of PM and also revealed various misconducts of PM Nawaz and his Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
World Banks and UNODC’s Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative has also registered case no. 147 against PM Nawaz Sharif, who is directly beneficiary of four companies which are Chandron Jersey Pvt. Ltd, Shamrock, Nescoll and Nielson. But it was not mentioned that who is legal owner of these companies. Previously in 1999 and 2000 there were stories on the overseas properties of Sharif families.
Tonight With Moeed Pirzada: Tax Experts on Panama Leaks !!!
An exclusive discussion with Tax Expert Dr Ikaram ul Haq on issue of PM nawaz sharif’s children name in world famous Panama paper leaks which shows how a law firm Fonseca Mossack helped people to evade taxes in form of offshore companies.
Dr Ikramul haq during interview suggested that it is in best interest of Prime Minster to get his name clear from the Panama leaks scandal if he is not guilty. Dr Ikarm said that Government should constitute joint committee of parliament and Supreme Court to probe the matter. Even joint session of parliament should be called to discuss the subject. And even services of international Accounting firms can be hired to investigate this matter.
Dr Ikramul haq revealed that international consortium of investigative journalists representative journalists from Pakistan sent questionnaire though email to Hussain Nawaz few months back but instead of replting Hussain Nawaz in few TV interviews admitted that they have off shore companies because they knew this issue will be highlighted soon. He also mentioned that joint initiative of World Bank and United Office for Drugs and crime named STAR (stolen Asset Recovery Initiative) case 147 also shows that PM nawaz sharif is beneficiary owner of two offshore companies.