I AM flabbergasted on the recent state-ment of the opposition leader where he said that the real estate is the ‘biggest mafia’ that grabs a large portion of government land, sells it to public and transfers its proceeds abroad.

A few years ago, when the current opposition happened to be the ruling party, the government had invited all overseas Pakistanis to invest in real estate, and had predicted that the housing projects would prove to be a game-changer for the economy.

On April 3, 2020, the government of the time had announced special incentives for the construction industry. This included the announcement that people investing in real estate would not be interrogated about their source of income.

That meant a general amnesty and an opportunity to transform black money into white, or, to put it even more simply, launder their ill-gotten money. Also, a number of tax reliefs were announced for the sector.

Though the opposition leader did acknowledge his mistake for rolling out multiple amnesty schemes, he was not heard taking the responsibility of making the mafia stronger with his decisions. Moreover, he also did not disclose the names of those who advised or forced him to take that ill-advised route.

A number of such decisions by a number of politicians and rulers in the past are actually responsible for the economic mess the nation finds itself stuck in today.

Malik ul Quddoos
Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2022