View from Pakistan: A house for Zardari

I’m currently having a problem getting my head around the concept of a house with a covered area of 82,959 square feet. I suppose this is because when I’m in Karachi, I stay in my old flat measuring around 700 square feet. So I’m grappling with the size of Asif Ali Zardari’s Bilawal House in Lahore. And before readers accuse me of envy, let me say that the last thing I would want is a house that big.

I mean, how would you keep it clean? And Lahore’s climate would demand heating in winter and air-conditioning in summer. Who — apart from Mr Zardari — could afford it? Just think of the battalions of servants you’d need to maintain the place. Does the ex-President have an indoor polo ground? I’m sure he maintains a stable of polo ponies there.

These details emerged from an income-tax investigation into the ownership of Bilawal House. For the last few years, rumours have done the rounds about the palatial house Malik Riaz, Pakistan’s real estate king and owner of the octopus-like Bahria Town operation, is supposed to have presented Mr Zardari when he was President.

Now, we learn that Bahria Town has valued the property at Rs 480 million; out of this sum, the Zardari Group has paid Rs 170 million. Although this may seem like a lot to an impecunious hack like me, I’m told it’s actually a bargain. After all, the total area of the land is 844,379 square feet, so you could probably have a cricket field there, with room to spare.

According to a PPP spokesman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is one of the directors of Zardari Group, with his aunt, Faryal Talpur, being co-director. His younger sisters are shareholders. Apparently, Mr Asif Zardari gave up his directorship on becoming President. Given the structure of the group, I assume Mr Bhutto Zardari was party to the decision to acquire this monstrosity. Did he at any point say: “Hang on. The PPP is a political party that stands for the poor. It would be inappropriate for the chairman to own such a lavish mansion.”

Or was he not consulted? Did Mr Riaz just wave his magic wand and make the palace appear without any input from the Zardari family? Have the younger generation ever asked their father about the source of his unlimited funds? And have they ever wondered what their late mother would have thought of this hideosity? Granted, Benazir was no stranger to luxury. But she was conscious about perceptions: I know she was privately furious when she found out about the purchase of Surrey House by a shell company controlled by her husband.

When news of that scandal broke, I wrote that her government had lost its moral right to govern. I was later told by friends that she had been very upset by my article. But she was caught in a quandary: without being able to acknowledge her husband’s ownership, she was forced into unconvincing denials.

Of course Mr Asif Zardari is not alone in his relentless drive to acquire property. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family are reported to have a house and a number of multimillion pound luxury flats in London’s Mayfair district, apart from other valuable properties. Raja Rental, Pakistan’s ex-PM, is alleged to own an expensive flat in London’s One Hyde Park. This is an apartment complex where Russian oligarchs have spent millions on huge flats.

Lesser politicians as well as bureaucrats and businessmen have invested in property in Dubai. In fact, Pakistanis are the second biggest investors in the emirate’s real estate market. Given this insatiable lust for money and property, should we be surprised or disgusted by the size and opulence of Bilawal House? Frankly, I never had any expectation of the ex-President exercising moral judgement about flaunting his wealth. But I did expect a higher standard of social conscience from his children.

Perhaps I am being unfair, and despite their part shares in the Zardari Group, they don’t have any say in what is done in their name. But as well-educated, people who were hopefully raised without feudal values, they ought to realise that this vulgar display of wealth is against their political aspirations. I realise I have no right to lecture them. But having supported the PPP before they were born, and having had the privilege of knowing their mother, I am suggesting that they take a long, hard look at where the PPP now stands.

Much of the reason for its decline is the fact that most of its leadership puts personal enrichment ahead of the people. And Bilawal House is a symbol of this
attitude.

By arrangement with Dawn