KARACHI: Former Federal Board of Revenue chairman Shabbar Zaidi has said the reason for collapse of society is intellectual corruption, which he said is nothing compared to financial corruption.

He said this while speaking at a programme held to launch his autobiography —32 Onkar Road — here at the Mohatta Palace Museum on Saturday evening.

Mr Zaidi in his address to the guests said he wanted to give certain messages to the people, one of which is in a set of four chapters in the book under the title ‘Genesis of a Confused State’ which is about the history and rationale behind the concept of Pakistan and the emergence of obscurantism in the country.

“The second part covers 50 to 60 pages on my faith. Generally, people don’t write about their faith in autobiographies. But I have done that. I have started that segment with a verse by Mir:

Yehi jana ke kucch na jana ha’ey

So bhi ik umr mein hua maloom

[All I have come to know is that I know not

And that too after a lifetime]

“The important chapter I want people to read is about my life as a partner and senior manager in Karachi when I dealt with taxes and audits… In that part I have explained the prevalence of intellectual corruption in this country. People don’t know about that. I can convincingly say that financial corruption is nothing compared to intellectual corruption, which is the reason for collapse of society.”

Former FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi’s autobiography 32 Onkar Road launched

Mr Zaidi said in his experience with the government, he was very close to [former prime minister] Imran Khan. “I have learned from three people. Dr Adib Rizvi, Syed Babar Ali and Imran Khan.”

Answering a query during the question-answer session, Mr Zaidi said there’s a need for a change in the structural system of governance, such as reconstitution of provinces.

Earlier, DawnMedia CEO Hameed Haroon, who chaired the event organised by the Corporate Pakistan Group, said it’s Mr Zaidi’s eighth book. In some ways, it is the most incomplete and the most powerful one. The author has put his lifetime into black and white. “It is deficient in its editing [because] Shabbar sahib is not an editor. But I have been made to understand by the publishers that this is the first, certainly not the last, edition of the book.

Giving out the reason from the book for writing his autobiography, he said, “I want to present to the people that a middleclass person in Pakistan, without any major external social and financial help and foreign education can achieve reasonable success on merit without compromising on integrity…”

Mr Zaidi presented his mentor Dr Adib Ul Hasan Rizvi, who sat among the audience, with a bouquet. Dr Rizvi on the occasion said Mr Zaidi can write many books and he’d like him to continue to do so.

Former MNA Kishwar Zehra said people like Mr Zaidi aren’t available in the market anymore. He has a sharp mind but without a barrier. “I have seen him join and leave ministry… Once when I was an MNA, he called me to ask what a ‘manicure’ was. I told him it was about treatment of hands and nails. He replied he had received four bills [from an institution] under ‘manicure’. Mr Zaidi keeps asking Ye mulk kaisey chaley ga (how will this country function?).”

Next up was a friend of Mr Zaidi, Asim Zulfiqar, who entertained the audience with a few anecdotes related to the author. He referred to the Indian film Munna Bhai MBBS, calling himself the character of Circuit to Munna Bhai. He was sure that like films, the sequel to the book will come out.

Wamiq Zuberi in his speech said, “This autobiography is of a hyperactive and extremely conscientious person that we know as Syed Shabbar Zaidi. The most conspicuously absent aspect of the biography is that there are no pictures in it. I haven’t seen any autobiography that doesn’t have pictures. I think it has more to do with Mr Zaidi’s personality of not projecting himself. In the next edition he should conform to the normal trend of an autobiography. The second aspect is that in his 65 years of life he has spent only 10 years in Lahore. And Lahore has made a significant impact on shaping his personality.”

Mr Zuberi said in the book the only regret Mr Zaidi expresses is about joining the government. “It was a rather painful experience for him.”

Then a video was played in which Mr Zaidi’s daughter Fatma, who lives in Canada, had a message for her father. She also mentioned her mother’s contribution to her father’s success.

Khalid Rafi thanked Mr Zaidi for including his name in the book and hoped it’s not his last book.

Syed Salim Raza, who arrived a little late, said he’s found the author to be a humanity-loving kind of a romantic.

Muhammad Azfar Ahsan and Raza Zaidi also spoke at the event, which was moderated by Syeda Zaidi.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025