It is very disappointing that PTI has not factually corrected in an aggressive manner, or taken strong legal action against the statements and allegations made by many opposition parties’ figures about the supposed corruption of the prime minister’s late father.
Especially since he is not alive to defend himself. Since these allegations have gone unchallenged they are increasingly being treated as facts. At the heart of these sloppy allegations is that the Prime Minister’s father was fired from his government job in 1960 for corruption. He resigned. This fact cannot be changed. It’s irrefutable and it can be challenged legally, and it should be against every person in the opposition that has made such statements.
Some more background information is also necessary. Prime Minister’s father went to study civil engineering at Imperial College, London as an Indian. He acquired his Pakistani passport in London in 1947. He returned to Pakistan with strong enthusiasm to build this new country.
He returned full of ideas and energy. As a young engineer while posted in Pindi, for example, he conceived and built Satellite Town, he built Governor House, Murree. No one wanted to move to this jungle called Satellite town. He literally had to persuade his friends and family to buy in order to encourage others to buy.
By 1960 he was getting very frustrated. Some of his bosses would casually turn down his ideas without any valid explanation. For example, he made a proposal in the 1950s to build another bridge on River Ravi to separate traffics to different destinations. His boss refused though it would have paid for itself within a few years.
The single bridge remained a huge traffic bottleneck for another 30 years. So he resigned in 1960 and very courageously set up his own consulting engineering and architect’s firm. One of the first of its kind at that time not just in Pakistan but in the developing world because most countries were just coming out of colonial rule.
His company undertook large scale projects either in a joint venture with foreign firms (US and Polish etc) or alone. These included parts of Indus Highway, salinity and waterlogging, small industrial estates, a large number of roads and bridges. He was a pioneer. He won these projects through an international and internal bidding process because his company was one of the only one who could provide these services in Pakistan.
He received absolutely no favors from the government. On the contrary, the Governor of West Pakistan at the time, Nawab Kalabagh who was an Awan hated Niazis who were Pathans. It is alleged he hated them because at some point they governed the Awans and they were cruel to them. This governor did everything to harass and intimidate the Prime Minister’s father.
He would stop payments for completed projects creating a regular liquidity crisis. There was a tent of CID or intelligence department outside his Zaman Park house. He was regularly called in for questioning by them.
So, unlike the people who are making false allegations against the Prime Minister’s father, he tried to run his business despite harassment and intimidation from the state machinery.
If there was even the smallest incident of corruption or wrongdoing by him there is no way nawab Karabagh, the governor would have spared him. Not for a second. For years and years, Kalabagh harassed him and made every effort to find something against him.
When the CID would invite him for questioning he would be asked like 250 questions in the hope that he would trip up. However, this cannot be said for some of our recent rulers who have made vast fortunes for all to see while occupying high office.
Check this blog too: “Our Last Hope – By Nimra Najam”
The post Corruption Allegations Against the Prime Minister’s father Vs Reality appeared first on Trends Of Pakistan.
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