For years now we’ve known that our leaders were an acquisitive lot, and many were not beyond thievery, double dealing, daylight holdups, or outright thuggery. And a few hundred of them were directly responsible for much of the misery that grips our people, or for the stolen hopes of our children.
In our annals of theft, I thought, none would more grievously impact the imagination of the average Pakistani than Imran Ali Yousaf’s pocketing of funds which came as charity from the UK to provide relief to the earthquake victims of the 2005 disaster. This young man is a “relative of choice” of one of our two top thug families. He is the son in law of Mr Shahbaz Sharif–the same whom Qamar Javed Bajwa made Prime Minister of Pakistan on the very day he was to be formally indicted for laundering 14 billion rupees!
Equally egregious was the case of Mrs. Erdogan gifting a diamond necklace whose proceeds were intended as relief to the victims of another disaster in Pakistan, but Mrs. Yousaf Raza Gillani decided to “relieve” herself instead. Instead of doing this in the loo, she made away with the necklace!
Or perhaps the scene of a Karachi being bled to death in a spiral of violence from which Asif Ali Zardari chose to salvage only the dollars he had looted, which he sent to Dubai by the boatload!
But nothing hit us in quite the same way as the publication of the Tosha Khana lists. These provided us with tabulated and consolidated proof of the fact that if there was shit lying around, for the theft of which our leadership would not be held accountable, they would steal it.
They told us that our “first she-dog” [for want of a better word], infused with Botox paid for by money stolen from us, was not beyond stealing Tosha Khana pineapples; or that Mohsin Naqvi, appointed Chief Minister of the Punjab for the sacred task of arranging elections in the province, raided the Tosha Khana on the very first day of his elevation, and so sank to the depths always expected of him.
Reeling with the realization brought about by the Tosha Khana lists, one can’t but help and look towards the generals and beseech them for help. One knows that from their first days in the Academy it was drilled into them that their task was to “close in with and destroy the enemy.” And one must concede that they have done a great job with the “closing in” in part. But before going any further, they must wake up and see that they are closing in with the thugs but destroying the wrong enemy. Pakistan is not the enemy. If anything, Pakistan is the firm base for 22 crore people. And whether they eventually have plans to emigrate or flee, it shall still remain their own firm base as well. So, they need to save it even now. Save it for the rainy day if not for us.
Each of the generals should get a copy of the Tosha Khana lists and read them most thoroughly. These will show them a thumbnail make-up of the sort of people they broke their oaths for and handed over the people of Pakistan to. Because these lists are government records, perhaps they could make a deeper impression on them which the misery of the people or their moribund consciences have failed to do. The massive thefts of these people are very well known but have failed to move the generals except bringing them closer to the thieves. The Tosha Khana lists, on the other hand, are reflective of their pettiness in crime. It is hoped that driven by this pettiness they may recoil from the thugs and, by default, land up closer to their country and its people, and find there a meeting of the minds. This may perhaps create mercy on one side, and charity on the other, so that in this mutual softening the survival of the state becomes a possibility once again.
P.S How can one conclude this piece without bowing in gratitude to Mr Justice Asim Hafeez of the Lahore High Court, who ordered the records of the Tosha Khana to be released! This one act has done more to restore the dignity and credibility of the higher judiciary than the combined malignancy of Malik Qayyum, Attar Minallah, Jamal Mandokhel, and Kazi Faez did to besmirch it. One wonders if there is a general similar to Justice Hafeez among the much adorned ranks of the peacocks? And when he’s done with his preening, will he show himself?