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Its not on the donation page ( i posted the link )
Well its not from Pmln, so answer his questions rather than attacking Pmln
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH) is one of the jewels of Pakistan. It is a story of not just one man but a nation that joined hands to prove what was once unthinkable. Cancer treatment is out of the reach of many even in industrialized nations so thinking about such facility in a 3rd world country was nothing less than a fool’s dream.
A whole new generation has grown up listening about the success story behind the hospital. I was in 8th grade and still cherish those moments when I first saw my hero Imran Khan coming to my school for fund-raising. It is only natural that people have sentiments and emotions attached to the institute and therefore greater expectations.
Khawaja Asif’s press conference wrecked havoc and media as always added as much fuel as possible (one wonders if this has caused fuel shortage in the country). I found the conference arranged in haste and later as expected the whole issue turned ugly.
First, here are the objections that I don’t agree to:
Even if Shaukat Khanum channeled money from Pakistan to invest abroad what’s wrong with this? Any institute tries to protect its assets and frankly if I wouldn’t invest my own money in Pakistan why should I do the same with the donations?
Secondly, whether the money was given for Zakaat or endowment fund is an issue of no importance either. Again the institution has every right to ensure maximum gains out of the available resources anyway they deem necessary.
Thirdly - the investment tanked by 60%. Once again not an issue at all. Even no God has ever offered 100% profit guarantee under all circumstances.
But then there have been some genuine questions raised and after watching allegations and response from both sides I must say that few are still unanswered and these are serious ones.
1. No endowment fund anywhere in the world is invested in offshore company as ut-most care is taken to avoid any controversy.
COMMENT:he himself already answered that above... how silly !!
2. Under any circumstances, funds of an institute are never invested in a company owned by the trustee (current or not) himself.
COMMENT: that can be general rule- exceptions can be made..no big deal...
3. Such investments are always made secure through an insurance/ guarantee usually from a bank or another reputable institute.
COMMENToh come on, this is so unprofessional.. who is this write to begin with, an engineer wanna be a blogger? huh !!
Unfortunately Shaukat Khanum’s head, Dr Faisal Sultan, accepted doing all this by denouncing objection on the actions as ”difference of opinion”. Sorry sir, but there is a thin line between “difference of opinion” and “right & wrong” and your team actually crossed it.
I am not going to draw any conclusion here. Though calling it “corruption” will be a politically correct term; but let it be a “serious lapse of negligence” for now. Under any circumstances this whole “process” of investment is something that no law or moral in the world can justify. No one invests even a penny like this.
If watching Khawaja Asif’s press conference was not a pleasure, watching Imran Khan defending all this was more painful (here). What one expects from a man of his stature is to help resolve this issue which is not that complicated. Instead he opted to defend it by calling it an attack on the hospital and at times looked clueless by stating that he had nothing to do with this.
Sorry, but both answers are not acceptable. Welfare schemes cannot offer immunity from accountability just because the process may hurt the good work; and if Imran Khan has taken the due credit, of making SKMH a reality with public funding, he has to take responsibility for something wrong as well.
It may very well be a conspiracy against Imran Khan’s political career but for now, after all these questions are still unanswered, it is no more.
He should accept the serious lapse that has shaken the confidence of even those who respect him despite political differences and have been donating money all years long. Investing approx 600 million rupees in an unknown business owned by a present or a past member cannot be approved and appreciated by anyone. There is something wrong somewhere.
The head of SKMH should resign immediately and apologize for his negligence and the hospital should carry out an open investigation. Defending the actions mean that this whole exercise may take place again; now this is criminal and dangerous and will be more unfortunate & shameful than anything that has happened so far.
Let me ask this: “if similar questions were raised about Edhi foundation what would be Imran Khan’s response”?
Transparency is the only solution. Bringing everything to the light will only help SKMH in it’s cause. And of course kind of respect that Imran Khan would earn as a result will be an icing on the cake for his followers, fans and well wishers. Otherwise, any other option will justify the same rhetoric that he uses against his opponents.
SKMH is a national asset. It was made possible by the collective efforts led by a cricketing legend but it is not ”owned” by anyone. Let it be this way. Let it be hope to all Pakistanis that nothing is impossible. It treats cancer patients equally, let it deal with the biggest cancer of our country the same way.
Shaukat Khanum Hospital – Sanity At All Costs, Please! | Minto Park - A new Pakistani blog
the website is minto park . com
