Karachiites pay taxes like they pay charity — generously: CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Sunday that it is wrong to assume that the people of Karachi are reluctant to pay taxes.

The CM expressed these remarks while addressing a programme of the United Memon Jamaat held at a hotel. His remarks come a day after traders associated with different markets of the city, like their counterparts elsewhere in the country, observed a strike against the revised tax regime of the federal government as part of the new federal budget.

Shah said that some people say the people of Karachi are generous in giving zakat and charity but reluctant to pay taxes, adding that this is wrong. “It is Karachi’s traders and businessmen who are contributing a lot towards the collection of government taxes.”

The CM appreciated the Memon community for their contribution in different sectors, including education, health, trade and commerce, as well as for doing social work. He said the Memon Jamaat has been serving its community for the past four decades. He also said that the public-private partnership (PPP) mode of working is a success story of his government, as he has vowed to work with the Memon Jamaat in the water sector under a PPP arrangement.

Separately, speaking as the chief guest of a programme organised at the Karachi Arts Council in connection with the 41st death anniversary of renowned Sindhi short story writer Naseem Kharal, Shah said time is money and its best usage can be achieved when things are done in a timely manner so that the benefits of this practice can be passed onto others.

The chief executive said it has become a fashion to start programmes late but “it not only wastes your time but also the resources and causes inconvenience to others”. “We as a nation must resolve today to be punctual in our life, in our work and in our services — whatever we are doing,” he said.

He also said Kharal made the best use of his time in his agricultural work and in his literary work, translating all his personal experiences into short stories.

Kharal’s work in terms of quantity was short because he wrote only 32 stories, but as far as quality is concerned, it was of international standard, which is why his stories have been included in the syllabi of universities, he added.

The CM said Kharal’s stories reflected the issues of class system in society, adding that the writer tried through his literary works to bring an end to stratification. “Kharal, through the characters of his stories, exposed the tyrannies of the feudal system and talked about the rights of the poor.”

Kharal was killed just to keep his pen silent from raising a voice for the voiceless, but his literary work is still alive and speaks loud and clear for the oppressed, he added.

The programme was hosted by the Sindh Culture Department and was attended by MPA Naeem Kharal, Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah, Food Minister Hari Ram, Imdad Husseni, Noorul Huda Shah, Shaukat Shoro, MPA Qasim Soomro, MPA Sohrab Sarki, and a large number of leading writers and poets.