I want to suggest to Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah to stop issuing irresponsible statements against Imran Khan who has very rightly asked all politicians to declare their actual assets in their entirety. Mian Nawaz Shrif has a lot of credibility and public support, but it cannot be said about Asif Zardari who has become controversial for rampant corruption and other irregularities. The issue is that all those who have occupied any public office, be it elected or as civil servants must declare any assets acquired by them, or their family members within Pakistan, or abroad, after or during their term of holding such offices.
If Imran Khan’s two sons own any property through inheritance from their mother or grandparents, then such assets are not an issue. It is those assets that have been purchased with no declared known mode of legitimate earning abroad by family members of public office holders which are an issue. In any case whatever assets any Pakistani has acquired after independence are because of opportunities offered by this country.
Many citizens, who migrated from cities that now form India, came with hardly any mentionable assets. It is unfortunate that evacuee property which should have been scrutinised before allotment to those who filed claims for properties were never investigated for authenticity.
In some instances even those who lived in the areas that comprise Pakistan and did not own even a house, have become beneficiaries of expensive evacuee property in Lahore and other key locations in major cities like Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Multan, Mardan, Faisalabad, Karachi etc.
IRFAN BUTT
Karachi