Megalomaniac

On the 180th death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the legendary ruler of Punjab, a statue was unveiled at the Lahore Fort on Thursday. Around 500 people crossed the Wagah border to attend the unveiling event. The main ceremony will take place on Saturday at Gurdwara Dera Sahib. The sculpture is the result of collaboration between Fakir Khana Museum and Sarkar Khalsa Foundation. How the idea took shape Fakir Syed Saifuddin, whose ancestors were emissaries of the Maharaja, runs the prestigious museum. He said the idea was mooted about 15 years ago when U.K.-based Bobby Singh Bansal, chairperson of the S.K. Foundation, came to Pakistan and agreed to sponsor the sculpture. But many years passed before the idea became a reality. “It was a very lengthy and tiring process — from getting permission from the government to commissioning the sculpture — but it was worth it,” Mr. Saifuddin told The Hindu . He added that while India has many statues of the famous Maharaja and this wi...

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government recently filed a complaint of misconduct against two judges — Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court and Justice K.K. Agha of the Sindh High Court — for allegedly hiding their assets and properties abroad. President Arif Alvi sent the reference to the Supreme Judicial Council, which adjudicates such matters. The reference was leaked to the media weeks before it was formally filed. The legal fraternity is up in arms against the reference, which lawyers say was mala fide. Justice Isa is known for his integrity and is also set to be the Chief Justice in 2023 — the year of the next elections. A senior lawyer associated with the PTI said, on condition of anonymity, that the reference is quite substantial. “There is a divided opinion on the interpretation of law in this regard. The government feels that Justice Isa should have declared the assets of his wife and children while some lawyers think that Article 209 doesn’t pertain to this in...

Former President and co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari was arrested on Monday at his residence in Islamabad by a team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for his alleged involvement in a fake bank accounts scam. Earlier in the day, his plea for bail extension was rejected by the Islamabad High Court. According to sources, the legal team of Mr. Zardari, who is also a Member of the National Assembly, will appeal against this order in the Supreme Court. Several people are named as accused in the fake bank accounts case. They include Mr. Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur and some of his close associates. Money laundering The case came to the fore in 2015 following an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The FIA said fake accounts were used to park ill-gotten wealth, which was later sent out of the country through money laundering channels. The PPP says the case is based on false evidence and is political in nature. Accordi...

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday warned of legal action against the Pakistanis who do not declare their undisclosed assets by June 30. He said that in the last 10 years, Pakistan’s debt had risen from PKR 6,000 billion to PKR 30,000 billion. “Our nation has suffered due to this. Our annual tax collection is around PKR 4,000 billion. Half of it goes to loan repayments that ‘they’ [previous governments] took.” Indicating that Pakistan cannot run on the money that is then left over, he added that the country has the capacity to collect PKR 10,000 billion every year. “I appeal to you to take advantage of our assets declaration scheme. If we don’t pay taxes, we can’t move forward and rebuild this country,” he said, adding that people have time till June 30 to use this opportunity. After that, he warned, the government will come after those who have hidden their assets. “We have information that no other government had; we have treaties with other countries that have informed us of ...

Ye desh hai andhay logon ka, Ae chaand yahaan na nikla kar (This is a country of blind people, dear moon, there’s no need for you to rise here.) This verse from Habib Jalib’s poem is what one Mufti recited to The Hindu when asked for a comment on the recent ‘moon-sighting’ controversy in Pakistan. Every year, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Pakistan announces the sighting of the moon for the month of Ramzan and Eid after getting credible testimonies. Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman is the chairman of the Committee. But there is an unofficial Committee headed by Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai that usually disagrees with the panel and announces the first fast and Eid a day earlier. To end all this controversy and also to make use of the advances in science, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry launched a lunar calendar last month, stirring yet another controversy. Mr. Chaudhry also launched an official moon-sighting website, apart from an official app called ‘Th...