The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that Sharif brothers have copied his every action. Addressing the Lahore Tax Bar Association, he said that kings of Raiwand should hold elections in their family if they could not hold polls within their party.
He further said that poor people were sent behind bars for petty crimes but influential tax defaulters were given tax amnesty in the country. He said he would demolish all boundary walls of Governor Houses so that the people could see what the government was up to. Khan said that rule of law and democracy were inter-connected, but unfortunately in Pakistan, it was the exact opposite. He said that peoples’ lives were in danger but around 1,260 police personnel had been deployed to protect the Raiwind palace.
Imran said that the amnesty scheme approved by the cabinet on November 12 was not only a slap on the face of honest taxpayers but was also aimed at decriminalising the crime of tax evasion and plundering of national wealth.
He further said that it was rightly termed as “financial NRO” as the corrupt government had decided to exempt the beneficiaries from questioning by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
He stated that the National Assembly could not pass it as Money Bill because it intended to amend many laws that were not fiscal in nature. If it was approved by the National Assembly, it will be a blatant violation of constitution, he added.
According to Khan, the proposed scheme was a money-whitening device. It was discriminatory vis-à-vis the honest taxpayers for the following reasons: It favoured tax evaders and placed the honest taxpayers at a disadvantage, he said, adding that such schemes, announced at random, were against Article 25 of the constitution as they were in violation of the guarantee against arbitrary decisions under the whims and fancies of the rulers in power. Furthermore, he said that it favoured unscrupulous taxpayers, leading to unjustified and hostile discrimination resulting in a violation of equality clause of the constitution. Moreover, he said that this scheme, amounting to approving the crimes of tax evasion, rent-seeking and money laundering would have pernicious effect on the general moral fabric of society. He further said that all such moves put integrity at a discount and placed a premium on vulgar and ostentatious display of wealth. This shatters the faith of the common man in the dignity of honest labour and virtuous living, he said.
Khan said that PTI was of the view that ill-gotten wealth was like a cancerous growth in the country’s economy, which if not uprooted in time, it was certain to culminate in its death.
He further said that PTI believed firmly that people would only pay taxes as long as they were sure that their taxes were used for the benefit of the masses not wasted and that they would not be able to escape punishment.
Closing his speech, Khan said that PTI would pass legislation to punish the evaders after clearly displaying austerity in the lifestyle of the rulers and prudent use of tax payer’s money and after offering an opportunity to come into the net. The money earned from seizure of untaxed assets would solve the problem of resource mobilisation and will also help to plug the huge tax gap, he said.
Sharif brothers are copycats, says Imran Khan
