Labour Party exposes 7 big financial embezzlements worth of Rs 10 trillion in Musharraf regime

LAHORE: One of the left wing organizations working in Pakistan, Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) has exposes seven great financial embezzlements worth of around Rs 10 trillion done by the last military regime of General Pervez Musharraf in the name of privatization of different government organizations. To slap the last military rule, on October 12 when General Pervez Musharraf took over the government, LPP held a seminar titled impact of Musharraf rule on the Pakistani economy and labour classes, at the party headquarters at Davis Road on Wednesday. Speakers in the seminar highlighting different ugly faces of military regime said that General Musharraf had not only given a shelter to the extremists and fundamentalists in the country but also made eligible to illiterate Mullahs (religious figures) for the parliament after recognizing their degrees as equal to Bachelor degrees. LPP secretary Farooq Tariq giving key speech to the gathering, disclosed that Musharraf government had sold out on worthless prices its seven organizations including Habib Bank of Pakistan, Pak-Arab Fertilizer, Pak Saudi Fertilizer, Pak-American Fertilizer, Flettes Hotel, Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO) and Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited (PTCL), which were all running in a good profit of billions of rupees monthly. He informed that Habib Bank was the leading bank in Pakistan with its 1300 branches and 26,000 workers, adding that its assets were calculated worth of US$ 9.5 billion across the country but Musharraf regime taking a dictatorial decision sold out the bank in only US$ 270 million in 2004. Farooq Tariq told the audience that PECO has more than 2,300 kanal lands at two most valuable areas in Lahore city, one at Badami Bagh and second at Kot-Lakhpat but the last military regime sold out the said lands only in Rs 50 million to a blue-eyed of the dictator. About the Flettes Hotel deal, he disclosed that it was constructed on 56 kanal piece of land in the hub of most valuable commercial area in Lahore city where one kanal land was valuated in open market around Rs 100 million but the last government sold it out in only Rs 1.2 billion in 2004. The party leader further informed that Musharraf government had also sold out the Pak-Arab Fertilizer in Rs 14 billion while it was giving Rs 9 billion profit annually as well Pak Saudi Fertilizer also sold out in only Rs 9 billion while it was also obtaining a profit of Rs 5 billion per annum. Following the privatization policy forced by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a wing of the capitalist organization of the world, International Monitory Fund (IMF), he said that Pak-American Fertilizer factory which was earning a profit of Rs 6 billion annually was sold out without any reason just at Rs 21 billion which was great injustice with the nation. Spotting light on the privatization of PTCL and hand it over to a Dubai based company, Etasalat, he said that though the government had Spotting light on the privatization of PTCL and hand it over to a Dubai based company, Etasalat, he said that though the government had made a deal of it to the said company in Rs 2.1 billion but the said company had not given the last installment of Rs 240 million as well as it had fired more than 42,000 workers out of total 72,000 employees of the PTCL while it was inked that no worker would be fired from the job.

LPP secretary information Rana Aslam, Yousuf Baloch, Azra Shad, Pakistan Communist Partys leader Irfan Comrade and well-known revolutionary poet and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Khalid Javed Jan also addressed the seminar and committed that military dictatorship could not resolve national problems so no patriot could endorse military rule and fundamentalism in the country in future.