Mass protest if plundered wealth not recovered: Durrani

Durrani warns Gilani not to turn Seraiki province division controversial just to secure votes.

MULTAN: Former Minister for Information, Senator Mohammad Ali Durrani Monday urged the government to follow the Indian model of recovering black money and plundered wealth kept in secret bank accounts and assets abroad. He warned that failure to recover this sum may force the people to launch a mass movements against the regimes in power either at the center or in provinces.

“India has been successful in identifying billions of dollars kept by corrupt people in over 700 numbered bank accounts of HSBC and the media had also reported the same but Pakistani rulers are yet to follow the footsteps of the Indian government in this regard. The rulers are not ready to get the looted wealth recovered as thieves and thugs are in power today,” said the Senator while talking to journalists in Multan.

Durrani said that the government should press the US administration and the world community to get the plundered national wealth recovered from western off-shore and numbered bank accounts and returned to the people of Pakistan rather than seeking foreign aid following a slave mentality

“With the support of around 30 parliamentarians, I am going to table a bill asking the government to move against the corrupt and recovery of looted national wealth. I am confident that all patriotic MPs from all political parties would support this bill. But if the rulers resist this bill, I would launch a mass movement against the government,” Durrani said.

The senator said that he would move the apex court to play its role in recovery of national wealth while parliament would also stand by the national cause. He said a group of senior parliamentarians was working on a legislation to compel the government to take action in recovering national wealth.

In response to a question, Senator Durrani said that the new chairman of national accountability bureau (NAB) should also write to the foreign governments inquiring into the black money deposits by corrupt mafias from Pakistan in bank accounts. He said that given NAB was an autonomous body, it could take this step on its own under the law sidestepping all sorts of pressures.

Seraiki province

Talking about the proposed division of the Punjab province, Durrani said “the issue is this that the large size of Punjab was a major hurdle in its development. It is interesting that Prime Minister Gilani is talking about creation of South Punjab Province, which may trigger a new hate wave in the smaller provinces against Punjab as nationalist parties are not ready to accept hegemony of Punjab. Now if there are two provinces with the name of Punjab and South Punjab, it would further create hatred,” he asserted.

Senator Durrani claimed that the prime minister was making the issue of new provinces controversial by making illogical statements which may confuse the entire concept of new provinces.

“I think, Mr Gilani is making new provinces issue controversial in a bid to use it as an election stunt. The fact of the matter is that he has never elaborated the concept of Saraiki Province. Neither did he bother to identify the geographical boundaries of the Saraiki Province. I warn him not to confuse the matter as it would trigger hatred among people on lingual lines,” he said, adding that he would get Bahawalpur Province revived even before next general elections while he would also support a province comprising Multan and DG Khan divisions for the Saraiki people.