Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging “VIP culture”.
The petitioner, through his counsel AK Dogar, submitted that public functionaries “living like kings and princes in palatial government houses” were not following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and were contravening the Constitution.
He said the governor of Punjab alone lived in a “palace” on 68 acres. He said commissioners lived in properties of 100 kanals each. “Let them be accommodated in residences of 5 marla each ... the battalion of servants who are dancing attendance on them must go,” read the petition.
Saeed noted that the British prime minister lived in a four-bedroom house built in the 17th Century and located in a small street. “When the sun never set on the British empire the chief executive of that great country lived in the same house of a few marlas in a small street. That is truly Islamic, that is like following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh),” he said.
He said Pakistan’s rulers built air-conditioned stables for their horses and gave them costly jam to eat. Meanwhile, he said, hundreds of Pakistanis sifted through garbage to get food. He said there was a 75-year-old man named Lateef Khan who had been scavenging at Khyber Teaching Hospital for the last 30 years.
The petitioner said that the government spent Rs1 million per day on the staff, household and allowances of the president, Rs1.2 million on the prime minister’s secretariat, Rs2 million per day on the Senate, Rs4 million per day on the National Assembly and Rs200 million per day on the cabinet secretariat.
He said Pakistan was printing Rs3 billion per day in cash and that was why the inflation rate was so high. He said over the past four years, public debt had risen from Rs6 trillion to Rs12 trillion. He said now every man, woman and child in Pakistan was indebted to the tune of Rs 61,000 each.
The petitioner said that David Cameron used to ride a bicycle to the UK parliament before he became prime minister and had to switch to using an official car because of security concerns. He said London Mayor Boris Johnson went to work by bicycle.
Meanwhile, he said, President Asif Zardari had travelled to London in a private jet on Wednesday morning. He said that the jet had been parked at the airport at a cost of 600 pounds (Rs87,257) per day. The Pakistan High Commission booked a jet at 20,000 pounds (Rs2.908 million) per day to take the president and his family as well as High Commission officials from London to Edinburgh, a 40-minute plane ride, for Bakhtawar Bhutto’s graduation ceremony.
He said that customs and usages which were a legacy of the colonial era needed to be declared void under Article 8(1) and (2) of the Constitution.
He said that VIP and VVIP status was ultra vires of the constitutional provisions of equality, social and economic justice and principle of democracy as enunciated by Islam. He said the closing of roads for VIPs was a violation of fundamental rights. He said the presidency, prime minister’s house, governor’s houses, CMs’ houses, ministers’ enclave and “palaces of all state functionaries” should be declared a violation of the principle of social justice.
He said that the court should direct the government to abandon “luxurious living” in light of Article 38(b) of the Constitution. He said that all schools like Aitchison College in Lahore must open their gates to the children of the poor and the children of the rich and the poor must sit in the same class room and study the same syllabus. He said that no privileges of any kind including free electricity, gas or petrol should be provided to any person from the public exchequer.
The petitioner asked the court to direct the respondents – including the federal law secretary, the interior secretary, the Punjab chief secretary, the president and the prime minister to follow the example of state functionaries in the UK, who travelled in buses and trains. “Even though they are not Muslims they can be deemed to be followers of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh),” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2012.
COMMENTS (21)
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After all Hafiz Saeed is the spiritual leader of the Lahore High Court and Supreme Court of Pakistan: he has a right to make demands of them.
Mr. Hafiz what about our military leaders who support you don't they live in a VIP culture? Are you going to oppose them as well?
@Alucard: what if the parliament is not willing to change this culture and on the contrary increasing their personal budgets ??
@JK: at least have the courage to agree with what is right even if it comes from the wrong place. Good job Hafiz Sb.
@ Mujhaid...VIP culture was here before Afghan war and "gun-culture". Read history, read how Ayub Khans and Bhuttos used to live here and how they spent public money.
I support Hafiz Saeed's petition, irrespective of whether I support him on other issues. Lets rise above our hatreds and biases, our allergy to religion and beard, and support the truth, whoever speaks it.
SC should take it seriously as whatever he says is pure LOGIC.
He is on merit in his petition.
Accountability is good but we're not a communist country. Then again, that's too complicated an idea for a matric pass maulwi to comprehend. They can not say even a single thing right.
Even a broken analog clock is right twice in a day.
Never trust an ANGRY BEARD!
While noble (if not excessively idealistic) intentions the courts have no business whatsoever on deciding the culture or social norms of a state. This is the job for parliament. Get into parliament if you can and then change the law to suit your ideals. We blame the courts for overstepping their mark, but in truth these nonsense petitions are equally to blame.
This guy will ruin Pakistan. He is using cheap tactics to attract the less privileged. I wonder if sleeping on streets and eating just once a day is what Islam calls for? It would be great to watch the PM or President travelling by PIA economy to meet head of other states.
Pakistan is printing currency which is causing inflation? I think this thief and his coterie is printing Pakistani currency (along with Indian and Bangladeshi currency).
Taliban is praising India, this terrorist is praising British PM. Something seriously wrong!! If we don’t jail him, someone else will. And we will sing our violation of sovereignty song.
All very valid points.
So now those who have a whopping $100 million bounty on their head are filing petitions in high court.
If he thinks British prime ministers are more Muslim than Pakistanis, he should convert to the religion of British prime ministers and spare the world.
Hazrat sb. well done. These are works which also need your attention. We are paying tax to run the country but our money is being spent either on foreign trips by corrupt rulers or on kingly living their style. This is real jihad nation will stand by you.
Hafiz Saeed should poke the Royalty in Arabian Peninsula as they proclaim custodians of Islam rather objecting minor things.
Absolutely true, but VIP-Culture came contemporary with Gun-Culture. When you and your friend's Gun-Culture will end, VIP-Culture will be ended automatically. They have security reasons because of Gun-Culture.
SC must take the notice of it.
right said fred.
About time someone raised voice on this issue. We must support Hafiz sb.
For all his faults, Hafiz Saeed is still the most intelligent person in the DPC.