Guest Post by Amer Nazir
Part One of the ‘The NAB Diaries’ can be read here
Part Two of the ‘The NAB Diaries’ can be read here
Part Three of the ‘The NAB Diaries’ can be read here
“Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money.
Money is the barometer of a societys virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion when you see that in order to produce, you need to take permission from men who produce nothing when you see money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors when you see that men go richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws dont protect you against them, but protect them against you when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self sacrifice you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.
Ayn Rand (Atlas shrugged)
Perhaps we are missing out on a simple point. It is not an issue of the Army against Democracy. We want democracy but what is holding us back are the illiterate, incompetent, and corrupt politicians. And we do want our army Pakistan needs an army but what is holding us back from having a professional army are the 150 or so generals that are in command…
Corrupt institutions can only bring forth corrupt people and a lawless society. Proper institutions bring forth proper people and transparency. Apart from institutions we need wealth and prosperity a larger pie. With the pie shrinking it is but natural that the men with guns would want to snatch other peoples share as well… there being no other solution for their personal economic survival. Any moral slogan is adopted patriotism, morality, religion, terrorism whatever.
The army cannot increase the pie. It has not been able to do so since the last sixty years although it has been in control directly and indirectly. Consequently, it has settled itself as an extremely prosperous welfare state within an otherwise poor state and is defending its boundary with all its might. Except for one or two projects all the army projects are commercial failures in spite of monopolies and unlimited funding so what skill-set do they have to increase the size of the pie… are they not responsible for increasing the national debt just to satisfy their own thirst and greed? Having found nothing else to say, Musharraf declares rather apologetically that the army helps during natural calamities… and even if we are to forget what happened during the Kashmir earthquakes, is there any reason why more than 70% of the budget is spent on the army and not even a tiny bit spent on the creation and maintenance of a professional national emergency service? For how long will the country be hoodwinked and forced into accepting the hegemony of the army as a last resort? The trend is for everyone to see: the army blames illiteracy as the cause of failure of democracy but decade after decade it stubbornly refuses to spend on education at the cost of depriving its generals with a grand lifestyle…
Since the NAB Diaries started people are sending me details of several cases with the hope that they will be published in one form or another. Interestingly, someone has sent me mobile phone footage of two Generals. The footage shows the Generals in their full glory, their palatial houses, cars, servants, the royal style of their families… Accompanied with the footage is a simple statement, I am fed up of the international coverage of poor people being beaten and killed on the streets of Pakistan. I am fed up of the poverty that is shown. Lets show the world we are a prosperous nation for after all when the international media projects Columbia they show grand life styles and not poverty, so why not in our case…
After seeing the above, what came to my mind was a wish… that the nation gives unlimited medals to our Generals, invent a few more if required to cover each and every inch of their bodies, after all they are aluminium and tin and not more… then we allow them to keep the 100 million or so that America sends every month for one year on the condition that they leave the country… and then we start all over again… for we do need our army.
This is the last part of the NAB Diaries. I am thankful for the support I have received. I have no choice. I will fight for truth and justice till the last drop of blood in my body. I have been brave not because I am a brave man but it is more out of compulsion. I have nothing more to lose. At the least, I want to leave a legacy of having stood up for honour and truth… what else can someone do who has been falsely disgraced and punished in the name of corruption…
It is requested that please try to send across only those cases and incidents that can be verified and substantiated. The footages of the General colonies and houses etc should somehow clearly indicate the owners/residents… of course it goes without saying that everything will be kept confidential unless instructed otherwise. Additional contact details with the media, Human Right organisations, publishing houses, lawyers (local and International) would also be appreciated. As much needed are the e-mail addresses of ex-pat Pakistani organisations, international business and trading concerns etc for NAB has to be disbanded if it cannot face up to its consequences. I have taken my punishment with as much dignity as can be possible but NAB cannot admit mistakes, it can only kill and maim… (amer1959@btinternet.com)
And, as far as I am concerned, the Chairman NAB should deposit his salary into the Eidhi Trust if he has any ethics and dignity. He has not responded to my letter asking him to either clarify NABs position on this case or else resign his role. Copies were sent to the President and the British High Commission as well. My message to him… Mr Chairman, you think you are so high and mighty that you cannot stoop low and acknowledge a lowly citizen… perhaps you have been taught that the dignity of your office requires you not to glorify the existence of a common man… but you are wrong. You are just a public servant, no sorry that is not the case, you are just a government servant… what you have lost is any moral reason to sit in that chair for even a single day… you have no right whatsoever to accuse others of moral corruption… if you had been in a civilized government set-up you would have probably been behind bars… Come on resign. There is after all God who is mightier than the Major General sitting in the next room watching your every movement…
I was still living in the Defence Sunset Club in Karachi. My money was running out but NAB would neither take my case to a court and neither would they remove my name from ECL. Nobody wanted to know me, I was a NAB accused and they were afraid. Interestingly, even the closest of my relatives seem to have rationalized the situation within themselves, that I must have done something seriously wrong. That I probably deserved it otherwise from where did I get my house, cars and Rolex… a perfectly normal approach in a society where there is a story behind every success. Where it is the accused that has to prove his innocence and not otherwise…
I was saved at the last moment. A friend from Cathedral approached me from out of the blue and urged me to move to his house in Lahore and that is where I stayed for the last three months of my ordeal… My friend used to travel to Islamabad often and would take me along. During one of the trips I suddenly thought of a Major General (retd) whom I had once tried to appoint as the Chairman of the E-Tech Group. He was also very close to Musharaff. I rang him up and he was surprised. We had no news of each other since the last three years. The General asked me to come to his house at once and then once again I told my story to another general from amongst the twenty or so that I knew and who had already heard me…
The General told me that Lt General Munir Hafeez had served under him and that he will make sure that he grants me an interview… I told him that Munir Hafeez does not have the guts to see me and that he should take the matter to Musharaff otherwise there is now no hope for me to survive and that my wife and daughters will now approach every Human Rights organisations in the world whether it is of any good or not… But the General insisted that Munir Hafeez cannot refuse him…
This General also never met me again but he did start the ball rolling. A few days later, I received a call from my brother-in-law saying that he had a message from my brother. I was to be given an air ticket to Karachi and was asked to write an application to the new PALPA board asking for their forgiveness. Apparently, now an ex-air force captain was the new President PALPA along with my brother also occupying a powerful board position. The ex-air force crowd were now in control and my brother had decided to save my life… I was also offered thirty-five lacs to buy a one-way ticket to London and for expenses to help start a new life in the UK. Of course, my name was to be taken off the ECL… My brother also rang up my wife and daughters in London and said to them that he was going to save me… he said to them that it was all my doing since I am a greedy person who had crossed every limit to make money…
In return of the generous offer, I was to become a partner with PALPA in a civil case against the previous trustee captains who had invested with me in the first place… The logic was simple, now that NAB seemed to be withdrawing, they needed a civil case after three years to keep the facade going… They said that they now knew that I had not embezzled money but I was still a beneficiary. That my actual mistake was that I was incompetent and my financial acumen was zilch. They said that it is all the fault of the previous trustees who should not have invested with me…
It was all so laughable. People whose own financial and management training and experience was zilch were passing judgements on someone who had run a sizeable organisation for eighteen years. Who had audit and evaluation reports from PriceWaterHouseCoopers stating how the value of the business had increased five-fold… But then what they really wanted was to silence the previous trustees once NAB got out of the case and I left the country – and for which apparently NAB was giving them time and perhaps even urging them as well… As it is, and which is rather funny if it had not been so sad for me… the previous trustees were suppose to be the actual accused and I was suppose to be a beneficiary and yet the actual accused were never put on the ECL, they never lost a single days salary and continued as normal…. In fact, when one of them was caught red-handed shop lifting at the Dubai airport, the warring tribes within the PIA captain community even decided at the time to set aside their differences for the moment to defy Muahraffs order to terminate his services…
Anyway, I told the pilots to go to hell as usual and refused to travel to Karachi to meet the new President PALPA…
However, my meeting with the latest General in Islamabad worked. Instead of granting me an interview, General Munir Hafeez decided to remove my name form the ECL…
I reached London and met my wife and daughters after three years but I had only two thousand pounds and I was on a visit visa… The economic realities were harsh. And more than that was the fact that I had not been able to fulfil my responsibilities towards my family having left them on their own…
We applied for a spouse visa but were advised to go back to Pakistan and apply from within the country of origin something that could have proved fatal if I was again seen back in Pakistan… With no recourse left, I applied for asylum knowing well that Pakistan has been put on the safe list if not legally than in spirit at least and that Pakistanis are generally refused asylum, immediately arrested and deported especially after the London bombings…
My asylum case was also refused since it did not come under the Geneva Convention however I was awarded Humanitarian Protection by the British Government due to the overwhelming evidence of state persecution in my case…
After six months of my reaching London, NAB seemed to have decided that I was not a threat anymore and they closed own all the cases against me… I immediately wrote to NAB that they should then help me to recover my assets from the PIA Captains who had been selling them at 1% of the actual costs between them… After six months NAB answered that it could not help me…
In the meantime, I got my Humanitarian Protection and I now wrote to the new Chairman NAB Lt General Shahid but received the same answer after six months…
I then sent an application to the President with copies to the High Commissioner of Pakistan in the UK and the Defence attache…
An e-mail came from the President of Pakistan asking for all the documents and detailed case facts which I sent but have never received another reply in spite of reminders… I did receive an un-expected phone call from Dr Maleeha Lodhi, the High Commissioner of Pakistan on my mobile one day… she talked for almost an hour sympathising and feeling sorry. She said she was sending the case in the diplomatic pouch and would make sure that it reaches the President… but since then her social secretary says that her Excellency does not have the time to see me as she has back to back meetings…
There were a few odd calls from the Intelligence services asking whether I have the knowledge of the fact whether my case has reached the President or not before they put it up themselves. An unmarked envelope probably from the UK High Commission also arrived in the post containing a photocopy of a letter from a certain Major General Nasir Mahmood of NAB addressed to Dr Maleeha Lodhi stating that since NAB has closed all the cases against me they cannot do anything more in this regard….
Desperate, soon I saw hope again and sent an application to the Chief Justice asking for his suo motto action… but the CJ was removed since he had been taking too many suo motto actions and had been interfering in the writ of the government, even ridiculing and reprimanding state officials…
And this is my story which has not ended…
“But what sort of offence! Ill explain publicly what happened. If people are human theyll have to laugh!
“As you like. But youll learn either that people arent human or that you dont know what humans are like. They wont laugh. If you put before them everything as it happened, it will then appear that not only did you fail to fulfill your obligations as they were indicated on the schedule that you did not do what you should have done but on top of this, you lectured secretly that is, you did what you shouldnt have done. It will appear that you insulted a man who was asking for help. It will appear that your private life is not in order, that you have some unregistered girl living with you, which will make a very unfavorable impression on the female chairman of the union. The issue will become confused, and God knows what further rumors will rise
Whatever they are they will certainly be useful to those who have been provoked by your views, but were ashamed to be against you on account of them.”
“But what sort of offence! Everything can be explained so easily. The facts are quite simple and clear!”
“Facts mean little compared to attitudes. To contradict rumor or sentiment is as futile as arguing against a believers faith in the Immaculate Conception. You have simply become a victim of faith, Comrade assistant.”
“There is a lot of truth in what you say, I said, but if a sentiment has arisen against me like an act of faith, I shall fight with reason. I shall explain before everyone the things that took place. If people are human they will have to laugh at it.”
Milan Kundera
Nobody will laugh
A short story from laughable loves
Part One of the ‘The NAB Diaries’ can be read here
Part Two of the ‘The NAB Diaries’ can be read here
Part Three of the ‘The NAB Diaries’ can be read here
Comments
12 responses to “The NAB Diaries – Part Four”
Dear Amer,
I can understand your frustration as I had wittnessed some people who had gone through same circumstances and treatment by NAB, my sympathies are with you and I pray that things turn better and one day you are able to return to our homeland.
One thing which I am unable to digest in whole story you have narrated so far is, if, you were innocent (which only Allah and You know better) why on earth you did not tried to challange this all before any High Court under constitutional jurisduction?
There must had been a relief of some sort to some extent as Judges that time were quite nutral (dont drem of it in present judiciary).
Why you choose to roll from one general to another rather then approching a constitutional court?
I can not recall the name of one of my clients who bought Railways land in Sahiwal in open auction worth a few hundred million rupees and was subjected to same treatment by NAB, someone in NAB was asking him 80 million as bribe but he decided to go to court, although it was a lenghty process and a writ after writ but in the end he got relief.
Well, in the beginning I was naieve, I thought that NAB will do justice, for they were often telling me upfront that they knew I was innocent… however, subsequently (if you read the diaries in detail) in spite of the warning by NAB officers that they will pick me up if I ever go to the courts, that no one will be able to save me then, I did go to the courts. I filed cases of defamation and recovery aginst the PIA captains in the Sindh High Court and lower courts of Punjab as advised by lawyers… I did not dare make NAB a party for obvious reasons but the fact was mentioned in the case… Subsequently, I could not pursue the cases to the end because of financial constraints and because I came to London…
I did send an appeal to the previous Chief Justice for his suo motto action and which is still pending…
Dear Amer,
I have read your entire diary and am realy sad on what happened to you and your business.
The request for suo moto action which you sent to presently detained CJ would be considered “Pending” if it was taken as a regular case and notices issued to parties, otherwise its gone with CJ and even if CJ is restored it wont be deemed to be pending.
The only remeday you have in your hands is the civil cases you filed before Sindh High Court for recovery and in civil courts for defamation, but (if) you were not able to prsue and (if) these cases were dismissed because of non prosecution then you need to immidiately contact your lawyers and discuss about restorstion of these cases, these might get hit by “Limitation Law” before restoration but you might get some relaxation on basis of your exile documents.
This is the only recourse you are left with at present (dont intend to disappoint you), and secondly if your civil suits are dismissed then it will be difficult for SC to take suo moto on your case and also as PALPA is a NGO, it would be realy impossible for any court to take a suo moto, unless there is some government organisation involved, the role of NAB is “merely” of an investigating agency (although not practically) but under the law all of their actions are protected unless you would have challanged it at time when it was being carried.
I will advise you to immidiately contact your lawyers, instruct them to check the status of your suits and if needed move for restoration, so that you are not deprived from your legal share on any pretext, you can do that while being in UK.
On a lighter part, you got messed with generals who are not sincere with their homeland, how can they be your friends, as long as one have “Finest of Scotland” on his table, these generals will be sniffing your house, but once you are dry, they find another place, what I have gathered, you are a decent and intelligent person, just dont trust these “uniformed” people as friends in future, you have every ability to built an empire again, work for it and you will be there one day.
As NAB is concerned it was merely a tool to blackmail corrupt politicians to form “Kings Party” and it worked well for Musharaf, you became a victim of personal vendata.
Dont loose your goal, things will change and let me tell you one thing, the copycats in developing world are also Einstiens, you did a great job and make you proud on it, there is always a better tommorow, we can voice for it, someone will enjoy it.
No words to express my gratitude… I dont know about others, in my case adversity only makes me more defiant, reckless and suicidal. Kind words, which I am not used to anymore, make me feel like crying though the tears dont really come inspite of effort… But I will cry one day when I have my redumption and which will make it clear that humanity is generally stupid and the world absurd… it is not about money anymore… it is about leaving a legacy to my children…
I will write you a private mail sir, after all we are not going to tell the enemies what I am up to, of course we cant…
God bless you and your loved ones…
My warmest regards…
Very sad…
Dear Amer,
I have been highly moved by your story. But I can tell you with experience that over time. You will inshAllah be honourably exonerated of all charges if nobody can find anything against you.
You talk about being an entrepreneur. Whilst you might be away from home. You reside in a society which is far more supportive of merit. It’s not easy building an empire up from scratch. But start at it again. I mean it. You’re an entrepreneur. Borrow from friends. Get after the banks. Get under their skins. Start anew, start afresh. Don’t look back. And don’t let those ghosts of the past haunt you.
Allah is great and He alone is the one who protects you. If it weren’t for his will neither would you have been let out of this country or neither would I have been able to type this here. Trust in Him, and start.
I pray inshAllah that you may surpass Sir Anwar Pervez. On that day then. Please come back here to this country and give setting it right your best shot. Create a more equitable environment. Create more entrepreneurs. Create more opportunities for education and employment.
It won’t be easy. But don’t resign yourself to lamenting upon the woes of the past. I will just quote from a song that might seem lame but it’s something that echoes what I have felt “And when I fall down, I have to pick myself back up!” – Right Said Fred (Stand up).
My apologies for not putting my name here again,
Best regards and best of luck
My prayers will be with you 🙂
What a gracious person you are…
Visiting the past is for good reasons… what we call here in management: The lessons Learned Report…! from which one should learn and which has to be avoided so that this does not happen again and to others…
Not raising a voice against such wrong is wrong in itself… otherwise, it would give an allowance to scavengers and blood suckers to do it again… and if there is a purpose behind all this… then I will do anything possible to find that out and act accordingly as long as it is for general goodnesss…
Thanks so much… and coming to songs… my problem is I cant remember them… maybe you can help me and write out the words of a song that I love…perhaps the entire nation needs that song… it is something like – something so strong in me – the more barriers you build the higher I will climb,etc etc…
Maybe you will know the song…. and lastly, atleast I have had an eventful life – the major problem however is that with everything taken away I dont want to now die an obscure death… and thus I will try to get up again…if my past experience and its propogation is a trigger to something else then I look forward to it – maybe there wont be any regrets left before I die…
Please dont stop your prayers… God Bless You and Your Familly…
I’m sorry I’m more of a Qawwali and Ghazal person. But this song is right here.
It’s called Something Inside So Strong by an African poet Labi Siffre it was performed by Kenny Rogers (Highway to the Danger Zone – Top Gun song)
The higher you build your barriers
The taller I become
The farther you take my rights away
The faster I will run
You can deny me
You can decide to turn your face away
No matter, cos there’s….
Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong
The more you refuse to hear my voice
The louder I will sing
You hide behind walls of Jericho
Your lies will come tumbling
Deny my place in time
You squander wealth that’s mine
My light will shine so brightly
It will blind you
Cos there’s……
Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong
Brothers and sisters
When they insist we’re just not good enough
When we know better
Just look ’em in the eyes and say
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway
Something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong
Brothers and sisters
When they insist we’re just good not enough
When we know better
Just look ’em in the eyes and say
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway
Because there’s something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong
Because there’s something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong
Thank you very much for your reply and for your regards.
My prayers I repeat will be with you and your family Sir.
Raise your voice InshAllah when it is so loud that they shall quiver!
Dear Sir,
I am one of the ex employees of eTech Group (Hinet), despite my several attempts to trace you, unfortunately, I remained unsuccessful.
Today, one of my friends sent me this link as I am in habit of sharing my eTech experience with him most of times, we meet.
After going through the Diary, with no special reason to write I could not stop myself to contribute.
I am still in contact with many ex employees who still hold great emotional attachment with the Group, needless to mention the Group was all about your vision.
I wish we could have continued…… we still believe that it is a massive loss to Pakistan.
While going through the statements by our ex colleagues, it is really depressing to read that, I remember, every one was allowed to speak up with his ideas and observations during our various internal meetings. (Riaz Sahib is one of the good examples) but I feel that needed sincerity, courage and sense of responsibility.
It is meaning less to have comments by my friends after so may years.
Dear Sir, with due respect I am one of those who have idealized your personality and respected your vision, and this remains in our hearts forever.
You have appreciated employees you worked three month without salary, I think I have the trust in your ability and could have continued unlimited, and trust me, I was not the only one.
Hope to have you back in Pakistan.
God Bless you Asim, I always believed in the dignity of man – exactly what has been denied to me…
It can be a cold harsh world for a fallen man – there is then nothing but judgements from everyone, no one is forgiving…
I did what I thought was right and I made mistakes as well but intentions were always there to treat people with respect – I came out with nothing at all, no money, no respect, no dignity and hardly even any kind words…I lost everything but if I could go back in time – I would do exactly what I did before albeit with the experience of hindsight…
Thank you very much, kind words give hope once again…
Hope you are doing well, you always did have a smile on your face and have always been a loyal team player – thanks for everything… how many more ISP’s have you set-up by the way…!keep in touch you have my e-mail…
More or less, I live in self-exile now, although there are no legal issues anymore yet there are life threats from people – after all the 600 pilots lost a lot of money for no fault on their part since they were told lies by their trustees and PALPA officials and NAB also indulged illegally – now the corrupt NAB officials and the corrupt PALPA officials dont want me back in the country – they are concerned that the truth will come out – but now lets see if the new government keeps its words or not…I will then come to Pakistan to take care of the unfinished business… its not over till it is over…the story has yet not finished…
Cheers.
Amer Nazir
Dear Sir,
Hope every thing is fine at your end.
I’m a huge fan of Ayn Rand’s work, and the objectivist philosophy. Free markets, and free will lead to growth and prosperity. More government and regulation leads to less growth and prosperity.