ISLAMABAD: As the House of Sharifs is presently in the centre of storm caused by PanamaLeaks, Prime Minister Nawaz is feeling the heat because of the direct involvement of his three children in offshore companies.
In the case of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, however, the situation is not worrisome. After initial reports on Panama Papers when the younger Sharif’s name was mentioned by the media, the Punjab chief minister is now neither being discussed by the media nor targeted by the opposition voices.
Unlike the elder Sharif, none of his family members (wives and children) is found by the PanamaLeaks to have any offshore company. He was actually caught in the cross fire of “Panama Papers” for the reason that his relatives- Samina Durrani widow of Shakir Ullah Durrani of Charsadda and mother of his third wife Tehmina Durrani, and Ilyas Mehraj his estranged brother in Law/cousin (brother of his first wife)- have offshore companies.
Although the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif claims his and his children’s innocence and insists that they did no wrong and thus ordered an inquiry, independent observers believe that the things may not unfold so smoothly for his political important daughter Maryam Nawaz. Maryam claims to be a trustee of the offshore companies but the document reflect as owner.
In this case, there are certain advantages to Hussain Nawaz and Hasan Nawaz for not being settled in Pakistan but the situation is not so comfortable for Maryam Nawaz and thus for the Prime Minister Nawaz as well.
As against Maryam Nawaz’s contention that she is not the owner of the companies but a trustee, documents show her the “beneficial owner”, adding, “Please be informed that we are not in receipt of the name(s), contact details and physical address of the Settler, Trustee and Beneficiary of any Trust(s) connected to or connected with the aforementioned company.”
As against the Prime Minister, the situation is comfortable for Shahbaz Sharif despite the fact that his name was initially dragged in the PanamaLeaks controversy.
Shahbaz Sharif’s third wife Tehmina Durrani’s mother Samina Durrani holds couple of off shore companies as revealed in Panama Papers. She is widow of Shakir Ullah Durrani, who is former Governor State Bank and Chairman PIA, both positions he held during reign of dictators Field Marshall Ayub and Gen Yahya Khan.
Samina and SU Durrani have five children Tehmina is the eldest. For almost for a decade SU Durrani banished Tehmina Durrani his daughter for her liberal views and championing the cause of women and writing the book “My Feudal Lord”, which SU Durrani regarded as too liberal and outspoken for Pukhtoon culture.
He did not let Tehmina enter his house in Charsada for many years. He did not even participate in Tehmina’s marriage to Shahbaz Sharif. It was only towards the fag end of his live that he forgave Tehmina and she looked after him in his terminal ailment. Durrani died in Charsadda on 20 November 2009.
Similarly it is widely known that Shahbaz Sharif practically does not speak to his cousin and brother in law Ilyas Meraj. Those who know the Sharif well, say that when Hashib Waqas Group defaulted on payment of dues to sugar cane growers, Shahbaz had ordered his mills to be sealed and despite pressure from his family refused to give him respite.
He had ordered Cane Commissioner to close the sugar mills and take over control through DCOs by declaring farmers dues as government dues under the Land Revenue Act and started the process of auctioning. Almost two dozen FIRs were also registered against Ilyas Meraj by the government of Punjab.
Ilyas Mehraj went to Lahore High Court, which referred the matter to Food Secretary Punjab, who is direct subordinate of Shahbaz. Chief Minister did not intervene again to the displeasure of his immediate family following which the Food Secretary again sealed the mils and ordered auction to pay off poor farmers.
In another case in 2015, a business house of Hasheeb Waqas allegedly usurped Federal Excise Duty on sugar to the tune of hundreds of millions of rupees. Shahbaz did not prevent FBR from taking any action, rather asked them to follow the law. The FBR registered case against Ilyas Meraj and his son and raided their office to arrest them. CM Punjab never intervened despite immense pressure from friends and family. It is also said to be a common knowledge with members of Sharif clan and close friends that Shahbaz Sharif once punched Ilyas Meraj in the face.