I begin my today’s echoes of the heart with a paragraph from the recent issue of Time magazine.
“Even in a decade marked by massively consequential leaks, the so-called Panama Papers set a new standard for epic disclosures when they came to light on April 3. The confidential records—2.6 terabytes of data, or more than 11.5 million documents— leaked from Panama’s Mossack Fonesca by an anonymous source appear to show how the Law Firm with branches around the globe, helped heads of states –governments, oligarchs and celebrities launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid taxes. The Panama Papers expose the secret world of the 1%” .
Everyone named in the Panama Papers has one’s own explanations but none has denied the basic truth. Off course there is no room for denial as the papers are genuine and have been thoroughly investigated by ICIJ (the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists).
If the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung (which acquired the papers) had even .01% doubt about the health of the disclosures, it would never have taken the risk of going public with them and thus inviting colossal ‘damages claims’.
The efforts of Nawaz government to make the disclosures look like a part of the ongoing political tussle for power between his party and Imran Khan, are at the very minimum ridiculous and laughable. This policy can be dubbed as an unenviable exercise in Truth-Evasion.
Time’s symbolic mention of 1% metaphor is so pertinent! The people of Pakistan too ought to know how 1% among them make big money and acquire power over them through democracy and then keep multiplying their millions and billions.
