Every political party that has held power in the past has given multiple tax amnesty schemes to known tax evaders involved in real estate, sugar, and fertiliser cartels. They have regularised smuggled, non-custom-paid luxury vehicles and granted amnesties to big landlords and the tobacco mafia, among others. They are responsible for not bringing them into the tax net. With elections around the corner, they are promising that, when elected to power, they will provide relief to the poor and promise them the moon. How will they do it this time around and cleanse the mess they created in the past?
What stopped the PTI, PMLN, PPP, PMLQ, and other powerful stakeholders in this country from taxing these known tax evaders? Each one of them is responsible for the burden imposed on the poor and the lower middle class through indirect taxation levied on utilities, essential food items, fuel, etc. They all knowingly did so to fill the ever-widening gap between revenues generated and expenditures. The state of Pakistan and its citizens have been burdened with foreign and domestic debts to fill the void instead of being used to build essential infrastructure to boost our exports, education, health, etc., which have been declining continuously for the past 25 years.
What can be expected from those who are beneficiaries of large houses, lands, etc., gifted to them by the biggest real estate mafia dons of this country, who recruit members of the powerful establishment immediately after their retirement? As they say, you cannot run with hares and hunt with hounds simultaneously. All those who were blinded by greed in the past must be seen to come clean and publicly accept that they have erred in the past. They will now undo the web that has caused millions of suffering and will no longer be involved in transferring their assets to foreign safe havens. At least the likes of Ishaq Dar will never be at the helm again. He stood up in the NA and stated that there would be no rise in taxation on retailers, big landlords, etc.
MALIK TARIQ ALI,
Lahore.
