Did Tareen resign because of the Army’s demand for more money in the forthcoming budget?
Omar Khattab in Islamabad
Islamabad is afloat with rumors that the federal minister of finance Shaukat Tareen resign from his post because he did not agree with the Army high command to curb the every-increasing Army budget. Last year, just like every year, the Army took the lion’s share from the budget. The amount it got was 322 billion rupees as opposed to 2 billion rupees for health and education.
This year the Army demanded that an additional sum of 130 billion rupees be given to it because of its action against the militants in Pakistan’s northern areas. The action itself has been dubbed bogus by many independent political observers both in and outside Pakistan. It has been argued that the Army is in fact protecting the Taliban instead of destroying them. It is the ordinary people who are being killed and the world being told that the Taliban are being gotten rid of.
But from the point of view of Tareen, say the rumors, after giving the major share of the budget to the Army, there would be nothing left for development of the country. For a number of years now, no money is available for development in education and health sectors; all they get is money to pay up the salaries. Every time when it wants to raise money, the government levies new taxes on electricity and petrol which hits the ordinary very hard. But no one has ever dared hold the Army accountable for the billions it squanders. In Pakistan’s history no government has ever dared discuss and audit the budgetary share given to the Army. For a person who wants to curb the all-powerful Army, the only way is to keep quiet and continue to work or resign and keep quiet. The latter is a dignified way compared to the former. This is what, it is believed, Shaukat Tareen has done.
Please, let us have “balance” in the reports being put up at LUBP. You are partially right, certainly. Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan’s viewpoint:
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2010-daily/24-02-2010/col1.htm
Anjum Niaz’s “The Chief Secretary’s chauffeur”:
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=225828
If A Q Khan talks of Islam and quotes Quran then A Q Khan shouldn’t have rebuilt Shahabuddin Ghauri -شہاب الدین’s Shrine because it is forbidden in Islam to build anything on Grave [Quran and Hadith]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqKNXoKL-gY
Shaukat Tareen:
A former petty City Bank Official i.e. Shaukat Tareen [hailed from Multan] was unleashed on Pakistan by Mr Nawaz Sharif who made Shaukat Tareen [an Incharge of 400 officers of City Bank] President of Habib Bank Limited [a bank of 35, 000 Employees] and since his induction HBL never saw profit onwards. If you are to buy the official spin that “Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin was working tirelessly to help the country in a tough time (and did wonderful job doing it)”, does it not follow that his stepping down “to focus on his private business interests” kind of shows what he holds more important. In Capital talk he openly admitted that all governments had failed including the present incompetent government where he is a minister
Of course he was always working for his personal business interests and those of IMF/WB — WB, by the way, is his business partner and joint owner of Silk Bank:
“In March 2008, a consortium comprising the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Bank Muscat, Nomura and Sinthos Capital, led by Tarin and another Pakistani banker, Sadeq Saeed, bought an 86.55 per cent stake in Silk Bank for about $213 million.”
(IFC is the private investment arm of the World Bank)
This also means a government bailout of Silk Bank is on the way so in effectyou and I will be borrowing money from WB to pay WB (Silk Bank). And what do we get in return? Liability to pay the principal and interest for this bailout…
P.S. Oh, and don’t forget the IMF loan of $11.3 billion (plus interest) and the IMF-enforced ‘conditionalities’ that you are enjoying. REFERENCE: http://fkpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/a-quickie-tareen-says-my-business-more-important-than-the-country/
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Shaukat Tarin will quit his post later this week due to the crisis in his Silk Bank. Tarin to quit soon By Hanif Khalid Tuesday, February 23, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27436
Read the attachment: Tuesday, February 23, 2010, Rabi-ul-Awwal 08, 1431 A.H
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2010-daily/23-02-2010/main4.htm
Aamir Sain
Thanks again for the feedback. Please give some feedback on my article on what Sheikh Rashid used to say about Benazir.
Thanks
I personally back the military operations that are taking place in the northern parts. The Taliban have left us with no other option. Their continuous beheading and killings of innocent has to come to an end sooner! Plus I think its almost time for him to retire anyway. He has done a good job. The military budget must be passed as safety comes first of Pakistan.
Shaukat Tareen is too small a person to decide how much a country should spend on its defense, particularly against the terrorists. War on terror being fought by Pakistan is such a complex issue that every one including the Army has a role in it. It is the govt who should spearhead the move for coming out of this mess, of course taking on-board all the stakeholders, so that Pakistan could be rebuild.
who bombed silk bank today?