THE editorial (Feb.22) regarding Pakistanis putting their money in speculative investments is an eye-opener. However, it should have been written many moons ago for this is not a new phenomenon.

Money that has multiplied rapidly brings no scruples to its ‘owners’ who would not even sigh at any substantive loss. As they say: easy come easy go. A poor country with many ultra rich while the IMF, WB and ADB also look the other way as Pakistan gets saddled with these loans.

Newspapers have been publishing full and half-page ads for properties in Dubai priced in crores of rupees. The developers --some of them Pakistanis-- know that no one dare question them.

Is there no one in this country to probe this scam and who are the Pakistani buyers? Why are the federal and provincial governments, FBR, NAB and other regulators sleeping? Why don’t they determine the ownership of these fantastic sums of money and its source? And most important, what did Pakistan’s exchequer receive?

It is not a crime to make money, but the manner in which it is done, should be subject to scrutiny.

The miniscule rich get richer. Walking the high-end malls, supermarkets and restaurants in every city proves my point. All this happening while millions of poor rummage for scraps through garbage bins in the same back alleys.

Shame on all of us. Truth, morality, decency, where art thou?

Mohammad Hasan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2015

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