POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Oct 7, 2021:The Panama Papers, published in 2016, exposed the financial scandals of the leaders of different countries. The list included family members of then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz Sharif’s forehead was burnt in that incident. He was ordered to step down in July of the following year by a court order. Cricket star Imran Khan, the country’s current prime minister, was vocal about the issue at the time.
After the Panama Papers published information about the investment of Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif’s sons and daughters in offshore companies, Imran Khan said it came as a ‘blessing from God’. Pointing to Nawaz Sharif, he said that the ‘alliance of the corrupt’ was sinking Pakistan.
Imran Khan further said that in order to gain advantage in the field of politics by defeating the main political opponent, ‘money is going to offshore accounts or to western countries. The poor are getting poorer. Poor countries are getting poorer and rich countries are getting richer. Offshore outsourcing comes with the great promise of cost savings.
On Sunday, five years after the incident, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a coalition of investigative journalists, leaked information about the secret transactions of the world’s most influential people under the name Pandora Papers. Five years later, a similar incident took place in Pakistan. The Pandora Papers, named after the Greek mythology ‘Pandora’s Box’, contain the names of more than 700 Pakistanis. Among them are Shawkat Tarin, a close finance minister of Imran Khan, and one of Imran Khan’s top financiers. Besides, the names of seven politicians of the country including Pakistan’s Water Resources Minister Chowdhury Munis Elahi, Industries Minister Khusro Bakhtiyar’s family and Imran’s party PTI leader Abdul Alim Khan have been mentioned.
Imran Khan is not supposed to be relieved after this incident. He is being severely criticized. Many have also directly demanded the resignation of Imran Khan. The leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), one of Pakistan’s main opposition parties, did not forget to give lawmaker Shahjia Mari Imran a ‘sprinkle of salt on her wounds’. According to a report in the German news agency Deutsche Welle on Monday, Shahzia said that Imran Khan, the then Leader of the Opposition, had made a fuss over the names of Pakistanis in the Panama Papers.
Imran Khan, however, welcomed it soon after the publication of the Pandora Papers. He said, ‘The names of the secret money savers abroad have been revealed through this publication. We will take appropriate action in case of any irregularities.
However, there are many questions as to how the assurance of the Prime Minister of Pakistan will actually materialize. Because after the names of Imran Khan’s close friends appeared in the Pandora Papers, the opposition leaders can no longer believe Imran Khan’s slogan of being vocal against corruption. Many people think that these slogans are just a way to show people and stay in power. Another PPP leader Sherry Rehman has raised the question of whether Imran Khan’s slogan of accountability is ‘fake’.
However, it has to be said that the opposition leaders are trying to put pressure on Imran Khan by creating the same atmosphere as the opposition tried to heat up the political arena after the names of Nawaz’s family members appeared in the Panama Papers.
That’s according to a Reuters report on Monday. Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) has called for the resignation of the ministers and their associates whose names appeared in the Pandora Papers and for a proper investigation to ensure punishment for those responsible, the report said. Currently PML-N is the main opposition party in Pakistan.
The Panama Papers did not directly name Nawaz Sharif or his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif. Their family members’ secret assets were leaked in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Opponents are now trying to reconcile the current situation with that. PML-N leaders say Nawaz was disqualified for the PM’s job even though he did not have a name. At the same time, the name of Imran Khan is not mentioned, but the names of his close associates are in the Pandora Papers. So Imran is guilty of the same. He cannot avoid liability.
However, some political analysts believe that the Pandora Papers scandal will not have the same impact on Pakistani politics as it did in 2016. Michael Kuzelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, a Washington-based think tank, said: “I don’t think this will have a big impact on Pakistani politics. Because Imran Khan’s name is not in the report. At the same time, immediately after the release of the report, Imran Khan expressed his support for it and called for an investigation.
But Mehmal Sarfaraz, a Pakistani political analyst, said the government could be in trouble if the Pandora Papers were not removed from the cabinet.
More Pakistani names appear in Pandora Papers
A report in Pakistan’s influential media Dawn on Tuesday said more Pakistani names appeared in the Pandora Papers. The list includes media owners, family members of army officers, businessmen and company executives.
Umar Chima and Fakhar Durrani, investigative journalists from Pakistan’s News International, were also involved in the ICIJ initiative. Mir Shakilur Rahman, editor-in-chief of Jung Group, Hamid Harun, CEO of Dawn, and Sultan Ali, CEO of Express Media Group, also own offshore companies abroad, News International reported on Monday. The late Arif Nizami, a well-known Pakistani journalist and editor of Pakistan Today, is also on Pandora’s list. Ahsan Latif, son-in-law of former Punjab Governor Lieutenant General (retd) Khalid Maqbool. In addition, the names of the families of many army officers, including Muhammad Hassan Muzaffar, son of Lieutenant General (retd) Muhammad Afzal Muzaffar, have been implicated in the Pandora scandal.
In addition, Javed Afridi, owner of Pakistan’s most popular cricket tournament team Peshawar Zalmi, Arif Usmani, president of the National Bank, and Adnan Afridi, managing director of the National Investment Trust, have been named. Kamruzzaman
compiled the report based on information provided by Reuters, Deutsche Welle, Dawn and ICIJ .
