The other Kayani

Long arm of the law is getting longer and reaching not just high places, but holy places — and this is a game...

Something does not smell nice in DHA. And it has a powerful last name: Kayani.

The normally pliant National Accountability Bureau is baring teeth, finally — and this too in the curious case involving the Defence Housing Authority and the brother of the former Chief of the Army Staff. Does it get more salacious than this?

Here then are the sordid details as per the report in this newspaper:

“The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has launched an investigation against the brother of former army chief General (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani over his alleged role in a Rs17 billion Defence Housing Authority (DHA) City Lahore scam.

“The DHA City project was launched in 2009 primarily to accommodate and facilitate the families of shuhada (martyrs), war wounded and soldiers of Pakistan armed forces by allotting them small size plots in recognition of their services for the country.

“Gen Kayani’s brother Kamran Kayani of Elysium Holding and Hammad Arshad of Globaco offered their services to facilitate DHA Lahore to carry out the project by acquiring land. However, they failed to deliver the plots to soldiers and families of shuhada and general public even after six years.



“This prompted DHA to lodge a formal complaint against Kamran Kayani and Hammad Arshad with NAB. According to DHA officials, the housing authority accepted the offer in good faith. However, Kamran and Hammad ‘played dirty’ and embezzled the hard earned money of the general public, they said.

“DHA sources said Kamran played the lead role in getting the project due to his ‘obvious’ closeness to concerned quarters. When the contract was awarded to Globaco and Elysium Holding, General Kayani was the country’s army chief.”

Well, ain’t this is a sizzler!

Let’s put this radioactive material in perspective. The man in the hot seat is the brother of the former army chief, not the former army chief himself. As far as we know of what we know so far, General (retd) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has done no wrong. His brother is accused of massive embezzlement but as yet he is an accused, not a culprit. With NAB naming him, it seems clear that pressure, if any, to brush the dirt under the proverbial carpet, has been successfully brushed on the carpet itself.

Good. In fact, excellent. We have the makings of a precedent-making case whereby the untouchables are in the process of being touched. Justice seen to be done too?

But wait. We are not out of the discomfort zone, yet.

Fact 1: Kamran Kayani did the alleged hanky panky while his brother was the army chief.

Fact 2: Kamran Kayani did the alleged hanky panky with an organisation that is controlled by the organisation that his brother controlled.

Fact 3: Kamran Kayani’s alleged hanky panky was not treated as hanky panky while his brother was the army chief.

What gives?

Well, there are three angles to this salacious saga of sordid skullduggery: 1) The Good; 2) The Bad; 3) The Ugly.

Let’s start in reverse order:

The Ugly: There’s enough radioactive material here to affect more than just Kamran Kayani. Why has it taken so long for NAB to nab him (proverbially so far)? How many people in high places knew that he had his hand in the cookie jar, and why did they not raise the alarm then? Who are these people who should have known about the alleged hanky panky and did not? Or did, and knew better than to say anything? Did Rawalpindi put pressure on Lahore? Is any of this documented? If so does NAB have the documentation? If not, will it? Can it? Dare it? If people sing, and files dance, things may get ugly. Very ugly.

The Bad: The former army chief is not in the dock — and yet is. Army chiefs have been raked over coals in the past for high crimes like undermining democracy and violating the Constitution — but corruption? Granted that General Kayani is not the accused, but proximity bites. Did he know? If not, how could he not know when the stories about his brother were whirling around like a forceful gale? If he did know, did he look away? If so, does that indict him too, if not legally then morally? As the NAB investigations move forward and more details trickle out in the media, the Kayani name — and reputation — will take a public battering. That is bad for a former army chief. Very bad.

The Good: The long arm of the law is getting longer and reaching high places. That’s a victory for us all. But more than that, it’s reaching not just high places, but holy places — and this is more than just victory; this is a game changer. The long arm of the law is clenched in a fist; the fist holds a banner; the banner proclaims that holy cows can also be slaughtered, and their blood used to cleanse the sins of the past. That’s a very powerful, and very potent message.

But who is the message for?

Ah! Now it gets interesting. Is it for the brass that is used to living and working behind very high walls? Is it for the rank and file that would like nothing more than the law to apply regardless of the weight on your shoulders?

Or is it for the politicians who continue to shield their sins behind the flaky wall of public mandate? If a former army chief is dragged into a corruption case by proxy, who dare protest when other notables are grabbed by the scruffs of their necks and made to answer for their acts?

And finally, who is giving the message?

Someone, somewhere is making good decisions based on solid judgments. Someone, somewhere, is breaking new ground so old grounds are not made grounds to ground future probes against people whose feet are not used to touching the ground.

Hail Caesar!

The question is, which one?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2016.

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