 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
 |
 |
|
| PPP covering up Musharraf crimes |
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: All major financial scandals and corruption cases, involving hundreds of billions of rupees, of Musharraf’s nine-year rule have been practically pushed under the rug and not being probed by the present regime.
The PPP government seems to be deliberately covering up the wrongdoings of the ousted dictator and his cronies. From 2005 Stock Exchange swindle to the Pakistan Steels Mills privatisation; 2006 sugar scam to the financial bungling in multi-billion rupee clean drinking water project; alleged kickbacks in defence procurement, including PAF surveillance aircraft deal to the doling out of military land to JUI-F leaders and his (Musharraf’s) personal staff; massive corruption in 2005 earthquake funds to ghost pension scandal; the Bank of Punjab fraud to the controversial sale of Pakistan’s property in Jakarta; changes in the Islamabad’s master plan for financial benefits of Musharraf’s chief of staff to the innumerable cases of illegal and unconstitutional appointments made by the dictator.
NAB has been turned dormant while the proposed new accountability law recommends that no case against the holder of a public office shall be registered after three years of the expiry of his term or of his ceasing to hold office. If the proposed law is enacted in its present shape, it would give legal cover to all corruption cases and financial swindling of the Musharraf regime after three years of their departure.
Sources in NAB said Gen (retd) Musharraf and some other leading players of his junta have been barring the bureau from pursuing corruption cases of their tenure. These sources said no criminal actions were taken against a gang of well-connected players of the 2005 Stock Exchange scam which, according to the conclusions of an official committee, had swallowed $13 billion of ordinary shareholders and middlemen. It is alleged some 80 beneficiaries, mostly close associates of Musharraf and his cronies, had multiplied their fortunes by manipulating the scam. However, they were neither probed nor arrested to get back from them the plundered billions.
In another case, the Musharraf-Aziz duo launched a countrywide project called the Clean Drinking Water Scheme with the promise that one clean drinking water plant would be installed in every union council across the country till December 2007. Initially, it was Rs7.7 billion project but was later raised to Rs16 billion but is still nowhere.
Similarly, a Rs3.6 billion Tawana Pakistan project, providing school nutrition package to girls in 29 districts of the country, went down the drain because of the involvement of a blue-eyed minister of Musharraf, but NAB was never allowed to question the minister.
The Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation, which was abandoned by the government following the Supreme Court’s order, was a case of serious charge-sheet against Musharraf and his close associates, who had almost sold this national asset to their close friends for peanuts. As per the Supreme Court’s judgment, the privatisation process was defrauded, but no action was taken against anyone.
The Rs9 billion Bank of Punjab fraud is also connected with Gen (retd) Musharraf, who was not only used to play golf with the absconder BoP president Hamesh Khan but had also close terms with the owners of the Haris Steel, who were given loan controversially. Although, NAB took up the matter during Musharraf’s tenure after The News reported the scam, later, it was directed to go slow and not to touch anyone involved. The present government also remained lenient on this issue; however, it was only after the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that the Supreme Court focussed this scam and directed the government to recover the loan money, besides arresting those involved in the scam.
Hundreds of acres of military land in Punjab and the NWFP provinces had been doled out by Musharraf to JUI-F leaders and dozens of his staff members, including cook, butlers and barbers a few months before Dec 31, 2004, when he had promised to doff his uniform. The Army later admitted there is no legal provision to allot military land to private persons like JUI-F leaders or their frontmen, but still no action has been taken against Musharraf or the beneficiaries to get back the controversially allotted military land.
In 2006, NAB under Lt-Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz wanted to probe the sugar scam, involving some sitting ministers of the Musharraf regime, but in this case, too, the bureau was stopped from probing the matter. Just like what the country is facing today, the sugar cartel had ganged up to sell the sugar at their choice prices.
Corruption worth hundreds of millions of rupees was detected in the money allocated for the reconstruction work and rehabilitation of the 2008 earthquake victims. Massive corruption in these funds was reported to NAB and also detected by NAB’s Frontier office, but in this case, too, the bureau was asked to stay away. The situation remains unchanged even today, and there is no independent probe as to what has happened to the tens of billions of rupees that were allocated for the earthquake victims and areas.
In 2002, a senior foreign office diplomat, stationed in Jakarta, reported to Islamabad of the alleged kickbacks received by the then-ambassador, a retired major-general and close relative of Musharraf’s wife, in the sale of Pakistani mission’s property in Indonesia at throwaway prices. As a result, the diplomat, minister at the Jakarta mission, was called back, suspended and never restored till his retirement in 2007-08.
The Post Office Department which, too, was headed by a retired major-general and close associate of Musharraf for more than five years in violation of rules and regulations, caused a unique financial scam of ghost pensioners. Although certain ordinary officials were suspended and inquired, NAB did not hold any inquiry and avoided confronting the top notch of the department.
To the financial benefits of the then-Chief of Staff of Gen Musharraf, who inherited a big chunk of land in Zone VI, along the Islamabad highway, between Faizabad and Airport Chowk, the CDA’s master plan was changed to allow the construction of multi-storey commercial buildings.
A major Malaysian labour export scam was surfaced in which workers were heavily charged and send to the foreign country but against fictitious jobs. The unskilled workers were asked to pay Rs60,000; however, most of them were overcharged as high as Rs160,000 per person. Some cabinet ministers of the Musharraf regime were allegedly involved in this scam, but no bigwig was probed.
Untouchables of the oil mafia caused colossal financial losses to the national economy with the connivance of some top players of the Musharraf regime. NAB under Musharraf was told of their manoeuvring of oil prices to the advantage of the refineries and oil marketing companies, but the bureau was not allowed to cross the limits. NAB could not dare touch the oil mafia for the reason and the situation remains unchanged even today. According to a NAB source, because of the policies of oil pricing, refinery margins, distribution margins and deregulating the oil imports a staggering amount of $7-8 billion per year was handed over to the handpicked chief executives of selected multinational and the national companies in the oil and gas sector. These refineries and oil marketing companies, it is said, were allowed to import petroleum products where the prices were manipulated to their advantage.
Sources said there are several other scandals of the Musharraf regime, but the aloofness of the present regime towards the wrongdoings and corruption of the ousted dictator and his cronies is not letting the authorities to hold the responsible accountable.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
Three killed as Sh Rashid escapes attempt on life
By Shakeel Anjum
RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief and a candidate for NA-55 (Rawalpindi) by-election Sheikh Rashid Ahmad was wounded, while three people — a guard and two party workers — were killed when four gunmen more |
|
|
12 soldiers killed in South Waziristan
ISLAMABAD: Twelve soldiers embraced martyrdom while two others were injured in a clash with militants during the ongoing operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), the ISPR said on Monday.
S more |
|
|
Plan to attack five-star hotel foiled
By our correspondent
LAHORE: The CIA police here on Monday claimed to have foiled an attack on Americans staying at a five-star hotel and arrested six terrorists, including a suicide bomber.
Addressing a press conference, SS more |
|
|
Govt taking court for a ride
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: She fought her case in the media. She won her battle in the judicial forum too. But still the government is bent on making an example out of her for refusing to follow the illegal dictates of her min more |
|
|
Pakistan against arms race: Gilani
By Azeem Samar
KARACHI: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said Pakistan does not want to be engaged in an arms race with any country.
Speaking as chief guest at the induction ceremony of second Chinese-m more |
|
|
|
Punjab-Sindh water row Centre’s intervention sought
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Tension between Punjab and Sindh over opening of the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Punjnad link canals has touched a new high as the former has sought the Centre’s intervention.
The Punjab has sai more |
|
|
|
French, Dutch fight over giving LNG to Pakistan
By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and his team is all set to thwart the attempt of an unscrupulous combine of oil industry heavyweights and some functionaries of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Re more |
|
|
|
Nine killed as no let-up in rains
By Nisar Mahmood
PESHAWAR: Nine people were killed and scores of others injured as heavy rains and snowfall lashed various parts of the country for the fourth consecutive day on Monday.
Reports from the Shangla district more |
|
|
|
Malik orders NUML closure as protest enters 5ht day
ISLAMABAD: The protest of the students of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) against thrashing of Professor Malik Tahir by Registrar Brigadier (R) Obaidullah Ranjha entered its fifth consecutive more |
|
|
|
Malik insists no Blackwater in Pakistan
By Muhammad Anis
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik while responding to an accusation from a PML-N parliamentarian told the National Assembly that Blackwater was not providing security to the president and the prime mini more |
|
|
|
FBR gets list of properties rented out to foreigners
By Hanif Khalid
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received list of properties from Foreign Office, which were in use of foreigners in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore, but these were not shown in annual tax more |
|
|
|
Repealing of 17th Amendment
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has begun efforts to create consensus on repealing the 17th Amendment before presidential address to the joint sitting of the parliament.
The prime minis more |
|
|
|
Three suspects held in Mohmand
By our correspondent
GHALLANAI: The security forces arrested three suspected persons during search operation in Safi subdivision of Mohmand Agency, official sources said Monday. The sources said the security forces carried out sear more |
|
|
|
No presence of Blackwater, DynCorp in Pakistan, NA body told
ISLAMABAD: Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman again negated on Monday the presence of Blackwater, DynCorp or any other foreign security agency in the country. “Neither the Blackwater and the DynCorp nor any other s more |
|
|
|
Govt urged to take up water issue with India
By Asim Yasin
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat while urging the government to take up the issue of ‘water terrorism’ with New Delhi, has question more |
|
|
|
Avalanche kills 17 Indian soldiers in held Kashmir
HELD SRINAGAR: Seventeen Indian soldiers were killed on Monday in an avalanche that slammed into a group of 70 combat troops at a high-altitude warfare training camp in Kashmir, the army said on Monday.
more |
|
|
|
Taliban defiant as Afghans flee ahead of assault
KANDAHAR: The Nato commanders urged the Taliban to surrender as troops dug in on Monday for a major assault on their key stronghold in southern Afghanistan, sending thousands of residents fleeing.
The Ta more |
|
|
|
Plea to freeze foreign accounts
By our correspondent
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered the federal government to submit a reply within four weeks on a petition seeking freezing of accounts in foreign banks and recovery of illegal assets accumu more |
|
|
|
Attack on Sh Rashid
RAWALPINDI: The PML-N candidate for by-polls from NA-55, Malik Shakil Awan, has announced suspension of electioneering for a day to mourn the death of those killed in the attack on the office of his rival, Shei more |
|
|
|
Indian forces to halt Kashmir rally outside UN office
HELD SRINAGAR: The held Kashmir authorities deployed thousands of police and troops on Monday to prevent a protest outside the UN office here over the recent killing of two teenage boys by Indian security force more |
|
|
|
briefs...
20 die in Afghan floods, avalanches
KANDAHAR: Twenty people have died in floods and avalanches triggered by some of the heaviest rain and snow in Afghanistan for 50 years, an official said on Monday. At more |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
