Shehbaz Sharif becoming the Prime Minister is one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Pakistan. Shehbaz has been involved in rampant corruption, money laundering, criminal activities, and misuse of power and authority. His elevation to the highest office is a reminder of the deplorable state of the judiciary in Pakistan and the complete absence of the rule of law. In any country with a semblance of justice, Shehbaz Sharif would have been in jail.
Here’s the track record of the man responsible for a country of 230 million people – the 5th largest nation and a nuclear power.
Financial corruption
- Money laundering through telegraphic transfer (TTs) worth PKR 8 billion (between 2008 – 2018)
- Money laundering of PKR 16 billion through fake accounts (between 2008 – 2018)
- Illegal use of Prime Minister jet aircraft while he was the Chief Minister of Punjab. This costed the public exchequer PKR 400 million (between 2014 – 2018)
- Substandard horticulture work in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Project, the contract of which was awarded to the brother of a minister, despite a clear conflict of interest. This had a financial impact of PKR 45 million (between 2013-2017)
- Acquisition of land in and around Raiwind through coercion and exploitation. The value of this land is estimated at PKR 342 million (before 2000)
- Building of waste drainage of his personal business (Ramzan sugar mill) via public exchequer. This cost the public exchequer PKR 210 million (2015)
- Saaf Pani Corruption Case: Shahbaz Sharif’s son in Law, Ali Imran, got Naveed Ikraam Cheema appointed as a director after taking a bribe (2015)
- Later Saaf Pani Company rented the incomplete building of Ali Imran at exorbitant rates. The total financial impact of these actions is estimated around PKR 120 million (2015)
Criminal Activities
- Shehbaz Sharif is notoriously accused of extra-judicial killings across Punjab, according to a published report of HRCP from 2017
- In the year 2015 alone, 1,191 people were killed extra-judicially in Punjab by the police
- Massacre of women & children in Model Town in broad daylight (2014)
- Killing of 5 people in a fake police encounter in Sabzazar, Lahore, on the direct orders of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif (1998) (then CM Punjab)
- Accused of conspiring for the assassination attempt of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan (2022)
- Suspected over mysterious deaths of witnesses & officers involved in the investigation of his corruption cases (2022)
- Dr Rizwan (principal investigator)
- Nadeem Akhtar (principal investigator)
- Maqsood Chaprasi (key witness – front man & benami account holder)
- Gulzar Ahmed (Peon, benami account holder)
- Muzammil Raja (servant – dutybound to draw money & hand to Maqsood)
- Ghulam Shabbir (Benami account holder & brother of Muzammil Raja)
Misuse of Authority
- Dished out government posts to cronies & ‘lifafa’ journalists to get favourable media coverage (2022 to date)
- Allowed his party members to exploit & loot state resources. E.g., Khokhar Brothers in Lahore, Khurram Dastagir, Abid Sher Ali, etc. (2015)
- Made 56 public sector companies in Punjab to adjust his blue-eyed officers on highly lucrative salaries and to facilitate the corruption of cronies. (between 2008 – 2018)
- Used office & vehicles of the Chief Minister for money laundering (Dec 2022)
- Facilitated corruption in Aashiyana through misuse of authority by allotment of 3100 kanal land: key beneficiary includes Khawaja Saad Rafique (between 2014 – 2015)
- Used media advertisements to oblige & facilitate media for favourable coverage. For instance, Geo News got ads at exorbitant rates (2022 to date)
- Some of the cronies & journalists who were appointed at government positions:
- Iftikhar Ahmed in Punjab Horticulture Authority, in 2016;
- Fahd Hussain as SAPM, in 2022;
- Najam Sethi as PCB chairman, in 2023;
- Session Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan, who quashed Shahbaz’s corruption cases awarded a lucrative post in the info ministry post-retirement, in 2023.
Abuse of Power
- Shehbaz Sharif’s daughter abducted a bakery worker, while his son-in-law, Ali Imran, assaulted him only because he didn’t give her a cake before the bakery had opened (Oct 2012)
- Backed & rescued the accused of Kasur child rape scandals (2015)
- Rescued Mustafa Kanju, accused of killing a teenager Zain. Mustafa Kanju was the nephew of Kulsoom Nawaz (Apr 2015)
- Sealed the Centaurus Mall after arguments with PM AJK who owns that Mall (2022) ()
- Made 6 camp offices and spent billions from the public exchequer for personal benefit. Estimated spending of PKR 8 billion (between 2008 – 2018)
This was just a list of corrupt and criminal activities that Shehbaz Sharif is directly a part of. However, a noteworthy point is that corruption does not only have a financial impact, but it destroys institutions and human consciousness. This is precisely what has happened as the Sharif family did its best to internalize corruption and term is a norm (as Shehbaz Sharif’s son, Hamza Shehbaz, proudly remarked to students of a school). This is precisely what has happened, and corruption has plagued the Pakistani society and nation as a whole, a grim reality which will take decades to reverse and fix.