LAHORE, January 2, 2022.
Mainstream Political leadership of Pakistan has been methodically wrapped into the weave of corruption since the last three decades, both for Good and Bad reasons. While many Larger segments of Pakistan’s polity has virtually gone scot free except some Low Grade
Bureaucrats and some fraudulent housing societies.
Generals, Judges, senior civil Bureaucracy and even Businessmen remain largely out of bound for
corruption watchdog Agencies like NAB, FIA & Anticorruption Etc.
Let’s Gauge the level of reported corruption beginning with Bhuttos & specially Asif Ali Zardari- that
crafted emblem of corruption – in Pakistan since the buzzword was thickened into Pakistani Polity to
begin with, some three decades ago. That’s about the Total Public life of Asif Zardari after marrying
Benazir Bhutto in 1987.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Father Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto was the youngest member of Bombay Parliament in
1921 at age 33. He remained a Parliamentarian/ Minister from 1921 till 1936. He was knighted by India’s
viceroy Lord Irvin in 1930. He strongly supported the two nation theory and worked with Quaid-e-Azam
and singularly represented the Sindhi Muslims at Round Table Conference in 1930-31 and won
separation of Sindh from Bombay. He convinced the Nawab of Junagarh (Indian Gujarat) as his
Dewan/Prime Minister to accede to Pakistan and thus provided a moral and legal ground for accession
of Kashmir to Pakistan through plebiscite.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), the founder of PPP, was heir to reportedly between 40,000 to 250,000 acres of
Agri Land in Larkana, Jacobabad & Sukhur Bhtto Family owned around partition of Pakistan was valued
at millions of Dollars back then (at an average per acre price of Rs. 1000 back then & the applicable
exchange rate of 5 Rs. Equals to 1 USD in 1946) Most of this Land was bought by Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto
during 1935-1955
Moreover, ZAB was assigned the Rental income of Indian Rs. 110,000 in 1946-47 (Pre Partition) mainly
from the prestigious Astoria Hotel in Bombay besides the family house called The Nest in Bombay (both
Owned by Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto).
As per Stanley Wolpert (Biographer for both Quaid-e- Azam & Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto)
“Zulfi remained alone in Bombay after his father and mother moved with their daughter to Junagadh. He
then lived in “The Nest,” their home on Carmichael Road, and watched over another Bhutto property in
Bombay’s busy Fort area, the multistoried Hotel Astoria Building, net rental from which was more than
110,000 rupees, a not insubstantial sum in 1946-47. There were many securities, other valuables, and
cash left in the hands of the bright and precocious 18-year-old Zulfikar, who was a decade later to
become sole heir to his father’s fortune.”
http://sanipanhwar.com/Zulfi%20Bhutto%20of%20Pakistan%20by%20Stanley%20Wolpert.pdf
(Last Para Page 35)
Bhutto, as a seasoned litigant, got a settlement for these two evacuee properties for Indian Rs.
4,430,400 from the claims commissioner of evacuee property of India on 18th Sep 1957.
Bhutto Family’s other assets & Valuables and settlement with Raja of Junagarh (Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto
was Prime Minister/Dewan of state of Jamnagar on Partition) has not been factored in.
That the reported start of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto- the Sole Heir of Bhutto Dynasty- even before he entered
into the treacherous world of politics, was as a dollar millionaire in 1957.
It’s another story that his eldest Daughter and political Heir Ex- Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was
accused of buying a diamond Necklace of USD 0. 175 million through money Laundering/ commissions in
Switzerland. She along with her husband Ex-President Asif Ali Zardari was also accused of buying
Rockwood Estate in Surrey, UK for just US$ 4.1 million after four Decades of ZAB settlement with
Evacuee Land Commissioner in India.
Another major corruption scandal framed against the former first couple were the USD 60 million in
swiss banks allegedly Thru commissions & Money laundering. All the reported data and charges framed
by Govt of Pakistan tell a different story altogether.
The major Break-up of this alleged corruption were Ursus Tractors contract from Poland ( $ 1.8 million
alleged commission ), under which 5900 Ursus tractors were distributed amongst Farmers for Rs.
150,000 per tractor after waiving off all import duties Etc. Then was Swiss SGS/ Cotectna for rightly
assessing the declared values of all imports to Pakistan by a third party and global leader in such services
i.e. Cotecna/SGS ( $ 2 million alleged commision ) and finally ARY Gold ( $ 10 million, denied by alleged
owner Haji Razaq of ARY ), for giving exclusive gold import rights to ARY in 1994.
Ex-President Asif Ali Zardari inherited Bombino Cinema and Scala plaza housing 32 rented offices in
Saddar Karachi. Besdies the Zardari Family owned 20,000 acres of agri land in Sindh with Banana Farms.
His father Hakim Ali Zardari was the founding member of PPP and was elected MNA in 1971, 1977, 1988
& 1993., had been a confidant of ZA Bhutto who gave him the slot of chairman Public Accounts
committee in 1971. Hakim was also given the caretaking of Bhutto Estate by Begum Bhutto and Benazir
Bhutto upon their jail/exile on Bhuttos’s hanging. Even Benazir Bhutto appointed Hakim Ali as PAC
chairperson in 1988 and he helped defeat the no-confidence move against Benazir.
Hakim Ali and now Asif Ali Zardari are the chief of 30,000 strong Zardari Tribe had contested 1965
elections on Fatima Jinnah Panel and against Gen Ayub Khan. Hakim Ai was also convicted of having
assets beyond means by NAB and was convicted twice by NAB Trial courts only to be set free by both
Lahore & Sindh High Courts. He was accused of buying a USD 2.1 million in Normandy France thru ill
gotten means. He successfully defended his position in Sindh High court and gave trace of all the funds
payed for Normandy property as his legible income from Film Distribution, Cinemas in
Karachi/Hyderabad and disinvestments in Insurance companies.
Now lets measure the scale of reported and investigated corruption of Zardari and bhuttos by
assumption. PPP had been in Power for 10 years at the federal level and 18 years in Sindh Province
since 1987. As such respective PPP governments in only Federal and Sindh spent roughly 21000
million USD in current context as per World Bank data. Out of which the reported and ,by far,
trumpeted corruption of USD 60 million in swiss accounts make for only 0.0019% of total budgetary
spending by PPP governments. ( based on annual average of 10.5 % Govt. federal Budget/revenues to
GDP.
www.macrotrends.net/countries/PAKISTAN.
From another comparative context, if Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa & family can raise Papa Johns Pizza Chain
network in Four Countries worth USD 60 million ( Rs. 6300 Million ) from a personally admitted seed
investment of USD 54,458 ( approx. Rs. 6 million ) in last 18 years ( a whopping 1050 times
multiplication ) then one can imagine what could have Bhuttos and Zardari achieved with a seed
capital of tens of millions in their total Net worth over sixty years ago, since 1958.
Bhuttos may have been worth billions of dollars now had they made similar success rate on their seed
investments some 63 years ago had they learned some business growth tips from Gen. Asim Bajwa and his
family which is still going strong under an undeclared NRO.
Even Gen Musharaf who reportedly had Rs. 2156 million ( USD 20 Million ) only in his off shore
accounts in 2016 could still be worth billions of dollars in next 15 years if he learns a lesson or two from Gen Asim Bajwa & his family.
