LAHORE: Salim Mehboob was alarmed when an anonymous caller asked him to keep track of Rs 50,000, the former had given in charity to Anjum Behbood-e-Marizan of the Lahore General Hospital (LGH) in Ramzan (August this year).
The caller had raised Mehboob’s suspicion, but he was still not sure, as he had an official receipt of Rs 50,000 deposited in the name of his sister, who had sent the money from abroad. In a fix, Mehboob finally decided to look into the matter and contacted the officials of Anjum Behbood-e-Marizan inquiring where his donation money was spent.
The official concerned initially hesitated and finally refused to show him the record, saying that he was not authorized to do so. Upon this, he approached the Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Principal and Anjum Behbood-e-Marizan President Dr Tariq Salahuddin, but could only meet with his staff officer. However, he managed to see the hospital record and was flabbergasted when the record showed the entry of only Rs 1,500 against his receipt no. 2487.
VICTIM’S STANCE: “The staff officer asked me to submit an affidavit of having donated Rs 50,000 with a copy of my CNIC to proceed further. That was the least I expected as instead of punishing the responsible officials, the administration asked me to submit the documents as if I was the one at fault. When even the principal [Salahuddin] asked me to submit an affidavit to proceed an inquiry, I decided to move to court,” speaking to Pakistan Today Mehboob said.
“Most of my family lives abroad and donates generously and anonymously in all hospitals. This time I only mentioned my sister’s name, Mrs Arshad, and my mobile number reluctantly. I never imagined someone could dare commit a fraud in charity money and the administration’s behaviour could be that insulting,” he added.
THE OTHER SIDE: Talking to Pakistan Today PGMI Principal and Anjum Behbood-e-Marizan President Dr Tariq Salahuddin said that the persons responsible will be prosecuted. Dr Tariq said that the Anjuman was being run by philanthropists and he was made the president upon request. He said an internal inquiry into the issue has been done, but refused to share the findings saying, “He [Mehboob] has served me a legal notice and now I will answer in the court.”
He said the hospital record shows a receipt of Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 1,500 as alleged in the legal notice. He said the court will decide on the merit of the case, but he, on his part, said that had “done the maths”. “I will not mind even if the court sends the responsible to jail. Things are not as clear as they seem and the complainant also has to explain a few things to clarify things,” he added.
