A flurry of speculation about the Mehran Bank scandal is going on in media. These are actually adding to the prevailing confusion just like memogate scandal and other issues involving corruption and nepotism. To set the record straight, we must not rely too much on Yunus Habib, who has his own hands tainted with corruption.
In fact, when the licence application of Mehran Bank was refused by the State Bank, Mr Yunus operated the bank merely through the power of an attorney. He was arrested in April 1994 and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. However, here he was given maximum remission due to the graciousness of the highest government functionaries. Another name linked with this scandal is that of Mr Kidwai, who was also personally involved in disbursing funds to PPP Chief Minister Aftab Sherpao and Farooq Leghari. Mr Leghari’s barren land was purchased at a high price.
From FIA’s lead, General Naseerullah Babar arrested Yunus Habib. However, sensing the outcome, Kidwai had to flee the country during PPP government’s tenure and later came back when Nawaz Sharif was in power. It must be mentioned that just like Hussain Haqqani, he used to live in Prime Minister’s House to avoid arrest. These facts will reveal that these culprits have been hobnobbing with our politicians for settlement of scores and getting favours. Also Mehran Bank’s head office was renovated at an exorbitant price by the son of Mr Sartaj Aziz. And when Federal Anti-Corruption Committee wanted to investigate the matter, it was cleverly stopped to continue the proceedings. The interesting thing to note is that Mr Kidwai was later appointed as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Nairobi where he served even during General Musharraf’s rule. Therefore, the disclosure of a man whose own past record is far from clean should not be given the media attention currently being given. Given the chaos in which Pakistan is mired right now, across the board accountability cannot be expected anyway. The dilemma of our nation is that there is dearth of honest and upright individuals.
Ali Ashraf Khan
March 12 Karachi