FACT CHECK: This is with reference to the article ‘The last of the maestros’ (Icon, Nov 3). The obituary of Ustad Tafu Khan was informative, but erred while claiming that “Ustad Allah Rakha Khan and Tafu were both students of the famous Shaukat Hussain Khan.” A quick fact check on the internet would have clarified that it is impossible. Ustad Allah Rakha was born in 1919, a good 11 years before Shaukat Khan Sahib. Actually, they both were students of Mian Qadir Baksh. Unfortunately, such errors truly hurt the credibility of the articles because the reader can no longer be confident about the authenticity of other pieces of information in them.

Name withheld on request
Lahore

REMARKABLE SUCCESS STORY: Recently, I was reading about the exem-plary life and the remarkable achievements of Air Marshal (retd) Nur Khan. I was amazed to know how he ran the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), one of the best airlines in the world in the 1960s and 1970s. Besides, he put Pakistan among the very best in the fields of hockey and squash. He kept sports away from turbulent politics. The main and only criterion was merit, and the world could see the results of such a policy. If we want to achieve the same level of success, we will have to roll back in that frame of mind.

Assad Shah
Rawalpindi

WITHHOLDING TAX ON PROFITS: The government should scale down the withholding tax deduction on profits of depositors. It was raised to 15 per cent for income tax return filers and 30pc for non-filers when the returns on deposits were high at about 21pc. Now, when the inflation is down and policy rate has been scaled down to 15pc, the profit returns on deposits have also gone down drastically. This is painful, especially for the small depositors as well as retired people. The withholding tax on such profits may be slashed back to the original 5pc for filers and 15pc for non-filers. The authorities need to revisit the policy.

Tahir Hassan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024