Retired expats

January 16, 2025

This letter refers to the editorial ‘The emigration dream’ (January 15, 2024). One can understand why young people want to leave Pakistan, but why do retired government officials also settle abroad, despite having pensions of up to a million rupees a month?

Such people should be sacked, while pensions should not be paid in foreign exchange to those who have permanently left the country and are living abroad.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1272637-retired-expats

Published in The News, January 16, 2025

Note: "Such people" refers to government officials with dual nationalities

 Many years ago, the government had devised a system to test medical and engineering college applicants to determine whether they were eligible for admission. the tests were devised by the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. As expected, most students of cities other than Karachi didn't pass. In fact, a girl student of Multan also failed, despite having topped in all her school and intermediate exams. Her father died of shock.

But this time, it's the Karachi Board officials (who're from outside Karachi) that have deliberately failed two thirds of Karachi students so that they cannot apply for jobs in government. Incredibly, eighty percent of Larkana students have passed with flying colors, although I can say with certainty that they would fail a matric exam. But then,  how can one expect the corrupt Sindh government to do otherwise? The Karachi Building Control Authority was renamed as the Sindh Building Control Authority just to provide more jobs to Sindhi speakers. Out of the twenty five directors, only three are Urdu-speakers.

This blatant victimization of Karachi students should be investigated by judges of the high court.

 FBR’s utter failure

Published January 12, 2025

THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Revamping tax policy’ (Dec 26, 2024). One should be forgiven for thinking that Pakistan was created for facilitating looting and plundering by smugglers, tax-evaders as well as other such ‘worthy’ citizens.

When one sees media advertisements for building projects worth a trillion rupees (which appeared in the same issue of the newspaper), one wonders why the real estate sector is left untaxed.

My driver’s cousin had to borrow Rs3 million from friends and relatives to pay an agent who helped him get a Canadian visa and work permit.

Unsurprisingly, the victims of the recent boat tragedy near Greece paid up to Rs3.5 million each to agents to get into that country illegally.

In contrast, more than three million Pakistanis go to Saudi Arabia every year without paying due taxes, while from Bangladesh the figure is just 300,000. Obviously, there are thousands, if not more, of tax-evaders in the country. But the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is unable to ‘identify’ them.

Our restaurants and shopping malls are full of people who are seen buying and stuffing themselves with clothes and food, and our wedding halls overflow with wealthy women wearing jewellery worth millions. Yet, we have less than a million taxpayers because the FBR is simply unable to ‘identify’ tax-evaders.

Unfortunately, each and every successive government in Pakistan has lacked the courage to take action against those who evade taxes.

But, then, is this not because we have been ruled for decades by those who have exempted themselves from paying taxes?

Shakir Lakhani
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025

https://www.dawn.com/news/1884662/fbrs-utter-failure

Fickle captain

Wednesday, Jan 08, 2025

This letter refers to the article ‘To see Mount Tai’ (January 6, 2025). The writer says "Khan has much to gain from engaging in dialogue". If only it were so simple.

The problem is that Khan, with his love for U-turns, simply cannot be trusted to stick to whatever agreement he makes. It’s not in his nature.

 

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

The News, January 8, 2025

https://e.thenews.com.pk/detail?id=374264

 

There is genuine danger that even legally settled Pakistani Americans may be deported after Trump takes over later this month. After the recent New Orleans terrorist attack that killed 15, people with mindsets like Trump's will conclude that Muslims pose a danger to the country. Pakistani Americans, being the largest group of American Muslims, are likely to be targeted. They should refrain from going to other countries for a year at least, until the dust settles down. There's no telling that they will be deported on arrival, merely on the basis of their religion, and even if they've been living in the US for long. 

I have many relatives and friends living in the US. Some of them were in Karachi recently but left last week, fearing that returning after the Trump administration takes over might cause them to be deported.You simply can't trust people like Trump, they think they're above the law and can do anything they want. Let's hope and pray that he changes and doesn't do anything drastic.

 

If Pakistan had been like China or Saudi Arabia, Imran Khan would have been sentenced to death and buried last year. Unfortunately, this government is too weak to resist blackmail by Imran Khan, who has been doing everything he can to destabilize the country. When sixty seven activists of Imran Khan's party (PTI) were sentenced to prison terms up to ten years, I hoped that the PTI leader would see some sense and apologize for the mayhem and destruction he caused on May 9, 2023. But he only hardened his stance, principally due to the chaos in his home province, where Shias and Sunnis are fighting in Parachinar. In fact, he is responsible for that trouble, having settled the Taliban rebels in that area (which until then was inhabited by Shias). 

But the real shock came when nineteen of his party activists were pardoned and set free by the military. This made Imran Khan think he was right in being tough. Pardoning those who attacked the state will make the activists think they can do it again.

In the meantime, Imran Khan's supporters are firmly convinced that Trump is going to get him freed. Yesterday, after a long time, we were able to access Twitter (X) without using a VPN, and today the internet speed is the fastest I have ever seen. This will undoubtedly make Pakistan's enemies believe that the government is weakening and their agent (Imran Khan) will again take over the government. Let's hope it doesn't happen.

Making hay

THIS refers to the report ‘Punjab MPAs give themselves a hefty raise’ (Dec 17). I was impressed by the fact that ministers’ salaries were increased from Rs100,000 to Rs960,000, an increase of ‘only’ 860 per cent.

The salary of the assembly speaker has been raised from Rs125,000 to Rs950,000, which is a raise of ‘merely’ 760pc. The other worthy assembly members will now be paid more than 500pc than what they were being paid until now.

Knowing that these men had the power to draw even higher salaries by giving themselves even higher increases, we, the people, should actually be grateful that they did not do so.

Of course, it will mean that there will be a lot less money to pay for education and health, but why should we worry?

Everyone knows that Pakistan will be so prosperous by the next year that there will be queues of foreigners begging to come and settle in this country. That will solve all our problems. Just wait.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Dawn, December 31, 2024

https://www.dawn.com/news/1882209/making-hay

 

 

Reading and politicians

Published December 27, 2024

THIS is with reference to the article ‘Reading into politics’ (EOS, Nov 24). No one should have been surprised to learn that the jailed former prime minister is not fond of reading books. We already suspected as much after hearing a few things that he said while in power, like, for instance, the one about Japan and Germany sharing a common border. Remember?

But one hears that he does read news-papers, which should have given him some idea of how much the country has progressed, (or regressed, in his view) in the 15 months since his arrest.

But about the present lot ruling the country, one can say with certainty that most of them do not read anything at all, not even newspapers.

They obviously prefer to have their underlings whisper into their ears that they are doing a great job.

Reading newspapers would make them very uncomfortable, as they would get to know the problems being faced by the masses; problems like skyrocketing prices and huge piles of garbage every-where, except where the elite live.

As for reading books, I know only two or three people who do so. Most of those I come in contact with think that reading itself, whether books or newspapers, is a heinous sin.

It is useless even talking to such people, except to say hello and goodbye. You cannot tell them, for instance, that 90 per cent of all living things were killed by volcanic eruptions about 250 million years ago.

Or that there were huge animals called dinosaurs that were wiped out 65 million years ago. They will either think you are absolutely crazy or have you arrested for blasphemy.

In the early days of VCRs, someone told famous science writer Isaac Asimov that books would soon become extinct and writers like him would lose their jobs. His reply was that books were like VCRs that had been in use for 5,000 years.

Electronic gadgets need a backup, like batteries, to run. On the contrary, books do not require batteries, they start running when you look at their pages, and stop when you put them in your pockets. Book readers and writers will always be there, he said. Fifty years have passed and he has been proven right.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

Published in DAWN, December 27, 2024

https://www.dawn.com/news/1881374/reading-and-politicians