It is comforting to blame others for one’s own inadequacies and deficiencies. Altaf Hussain got British citizenship in record time. He later assured the British government that his party would fight the Afghan Taliban shoulder to shoulder with the US led alliance. The facts might be sufficient to prove to MQM’s opponents that Altaf being a useful and pliable tool the British government was bound to allow him to go free by withdrawing the money laundering case and the lengthy investigation was no more than an eye-wash. After all how could the British deny Hussain a clean chit as he could be of political use in days to come as well?
There is however, another side of the affair also. While the British law provides strict punishments for money laundering, the standard of evidence too is equally strict. A man is considered innocent till proven guilty. Even if a man has gathered notoriety for having committed serious crimes, he cannot be sentenced unless the evidence is considered actionable by the court. The British government found that in the case of Altaf Hussain the money recovered could not be linked with money laundering.
There are reports in the media now telling that the Interior Ministry has sent a letter to the British authorities to reconsider their decision to close the money laundering case in the light of the ‘evidences and information’ provided by the Pakistani authorities. It appears that the Interior Ministry failed to produce any solid evidence that could be used to sentence Altaf Hussain. Ch Nisar has to realise that Pakistan is already getting a bad name on account of cases like that of Dr Asim who continues to languish in jail for nearly two years without any sentence having been passed against him for lack of ‘evidences and information’ presented by the prosecution. If Nisar thinks that the British courts would be satisfied with the kind of evidence presented through video tapes meant for the media trial of political opponents in Pakistan, he is sadly mistaken.