They have proven, once more, that their rhetoric for overseas Pakistanis is only limited to securing votes
BAHRAIN: There is a hue and cry from the business community and from sympathising anchors and journalists on the recent reduction of withholding tax from 0.6 to 0.3 per cent on banking transactions. For the past seven to eight years, our leaders have favoured the rich over the poor. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has imposed a tax of Rs300 on those overseas Pakistanis who are very poor — mostly the labour class — and send their families less than Rs20,000. Those who send more than Rs20,000 have been exempted from taxation.
In the same vein, kerosene is taxed, but the maximum possible concessions are provided on the import of high-capacity, luxury cars. Some politicians and anchors, who generally speak dotingly about overseas Pakistanis, have not spoken a single word about such measures. They have proven, once more, that their rhetoric for overseas Pakistanis is only limited to securing votes of overseas Pakistanis and their families during elections.
Muhammad Javed
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2015.
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