THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Lavish lifestyles’ (Jan 30), which reminded me of what happened to a Pakistani who had gone to India and set up a business there. In a couple of months, he had saved enough to buy a motorcycle. The subse-

quent week, he got a notice from the tax department, asking him to explain the means with which he had managed to buy the motorcycle. Of course, the man returned to Pakistan. I remember his remark. “In Pakistan, no one is bothered if you buy 10 luxury vehicles, but over there, you spend Rs25,000 on a motorcycle and the government pounces upon you.”

Perhaps this is the difference between our tax collectors and those across the border. Recently, a dumper truck driver returned illegally earned Rs4 billion to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Why the tax authorities were not able to detect this huge amount looted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)?

There used to be a time when we had an efficient anti-corruption department to whom the common man could confidently report. Unfortunately, people seem to have lost trust in it, perhaps due to fears of their names being divulged to the tax thieves.

Shakir Lakhani
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2026