Sharifs in the dock
Though revelations in foreign media about some Pakistani politicians' dubious business deals have now lost their shock value, The Sunday Observer report on a writ issued in the London High Court, naming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's father and brothers as guarantors of an unpaid huge loan for a paper mill, is a good indicator of at least the image of our leaders abroad. The £11 million writ initiated by the Al-Towfeek Company for Investment Funds, an offshoot of a Saudi Arabian bank, claims that these members of the Prime Minister's family guaranteed parts of the loan and are thus liable for repayment of the debt. Doubting the credibility of the story, a spokesman of the Sharifs has termed the story a manoeuvre by "such internal and external forces, which were always out to tarnish the image of Pakistan". Dismissing the charges as repetition of "the same baseless and fabricated allegations against the group" which the same paper published in September this year, the spokesman also pointed to some factual errors in the report.
But, much like the earlier episode in September, there is no sign of a lawsuit being filed by the Sharif family against the newspaper for carrying what they see as a malicious story. Nor did the spokesman deny or confirm whether the loan in fact was drawn, or if there is any amount which they have to pay back.
Unlike Pakistani laws, regulations on news reporting in Britain are quite strict and deter defaming speculation through heavy fines and compensation money. Still, British papers have time and again come up with details of shady deals made by some Pakistani politicians, both during and after their days in power. Yet, the response of the accused politicians has never gone beyond threats of suing the newspapers and nobody has actually taken any paper to court to establish the veracity of the reports. This failure to take the proper legal course to counter and disprove these serious allegations, and only making usual rebuttals alluding to some 'conspiracy', do give credence to their involvement, of one kind or the other, in such scams.
The sheer fact that this time it is the family of the Prime Minister, including his brother Punjab's Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who find themselves in the danger of being sued in a British court, warrants more convincing action on the part of the group. A lawsuit must be filed in Britain against the newspaper, which has published the story, to clear the mess. Mere counter media campaigns will not suffice. It is not the Sharifs alone whose reputation and integrity has come under the cloud; the honour and image of the country is at stake.