THE government shocked the Lahore High Court this week when during a hearing of a petition seeking past details of Toshakhana gifts, it said such disclosure would “cause damage to Pakistan’s international relations”. The revelation comes across as sheer hypocrisy, given how zealously the incumbent government has been chasing PTI chairman Imran Khan to reveal the details of his purchase of Toshakhana gifts. Surely, if the government is filing cases against Mr Khan, it is only fair that it allows itself to be held to the same standard and reveals the details of gifts received by past PPP and PML-N governments. The reluctance to do so only creates an impression that, much like its predecessor, this government is not interested in accountability and is, instead, engaged in a witch-hunt against its key political opponent. Ironically, both Mr Khan and the government have presented the same excuse for withholding information on the gifts received — that the exercise would ‘embarrass’ the dignitaries who gave them.

This reluctance on the part of both parties underscores the need for a clear Toshakhana policy, so gifts are not sold off to politicians and others at throwaway prices. It is necessary to define what qualifies as a gift, to log such gifts and upload their details to a publicly accessible digital archive. Only independent assessors should be allowed to determine the market value of the gifts to avoid controversies that help no one and overshadow the need for reform of the system. The policy should stipulate a period of time, say five to 10 years, before the gift can be sold off. In the absence of such a policy, our leaders arbitrarily have these gifts assessed so that they can be undervalued and bought at a price lower than their true value. The Toshakhana controversy that haunts past PMs is actually more embarrassing for the country and will continue to be so unless a firm policy is formulated.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023