Will PTI break silence over alleged use of SKMCH charity for political purpose?
PTI faced another challenge in foreign funding case after it was surfaced that SKMCH donors were unaware of charity being used for political purposes.
ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has faced a new challenge in foreign funding case after a new controversy surfaced that several donors of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) were unaware of their charity being used for political purposes.
A report published by The News revealed that several contributors turned out to be suspicious who were named in the contributors’ list presented to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by the PTI.
A list of individual donors had been presented to the ECP scrutiny committee by the ruling PTI to clarify its source of funding worth $0.46 million.
According to the report, at least 35 per cent of those who contributed told The News that they did not donate to the PTI and their donations were meant for the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, whereas, only 27 per cent said that their donations were for PTI’s party funds.
It may be noted that the election commission is hearing PTI foreign funding case following a petition filed by Akbar S Babar in which PTI submitted details of the party’s bank accounts and foreign companies besides providing a list of 1,414 names to the ECP’s scrutiny committee who donated $467,320 to the party in 2013.
After tracing the donors in the list, the English daily contacted 40 individuals who donated $1,000 or above and 40 individuals who contributed $500 or above.
Of these 80 donors, 29 responded to queries by The News. Only eight individuals (27.5 per cent) claimed that they donated to the PTI for political purposes because they believed in Imran Khan; 10 of those 29 respondents (34.5%) said they donated for Shaukat Khanum Hospital because they supported this noble cause; seven individuals (24 per cent) said they don’t remember and the remaining four (13.7 per cent) refused to answer until this scribe proved his identity with a CNIC card and the purpose of this research.
Some of those who claimed they contributed to the Shaukat Khanum Hospital were astonished to learn that their charity money had been diverted for political purposes.
In 2017, the PTI launched a membership campaign in the United States and sent membership cards to party workers residing in the US. It was a paid membership campaign and the party’s US chapter sent congratulatory messages along with payment receipts to the party members.
One such member was Rana Wasif, a resident of Lahore city who had never been out of Pakistan. Rana Wasif was sent an email along with a receipt of 120 dollars and a membership card.
According to that email, Rana had paid 120 dollars to the party funds in the US, after which he was given membership to the party. Rana worked in the private sector and was a regular donor of Shaukat Khanum Hospital.
According to Rana, someone took his contact details and other information from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital data and used it for PTI’s political purposes. He contested this with the PTI office-bearers in the US and Pakistan as well.
Later, when this scribe contacted the-then finance secretary of PTI, Sardar Azhar Tariq, he confirmed that Rana Wasif’s complaint was genuine. M Azam Khan and his wife Naghma Khan, (serial number 36 of the list) donated $1,000 to the party fund as per the scrutiny committee, but Naghma Khan claims the couple never contributed for political purposes.
“I donated funds for Shaukat Memorial Hospital, not for political funding. If the money is being diverted, I would like to know,” said Naghma in an email exchange with this scribe. Junaid Siddiqui and Hamid H Siddiqui’s (serial number 628) are on the list.
The report says they donated $3,000 for the party funds but the donors claim otherwise. “My father is a Pakistani resident, most likely if the money was given by me or my father, it was to Shaukat Khanum. We are not PTI supporters nor have any party affiliation,” said Junaid Siddiqui in a WhatsApp conversation with this scribe.
However, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry rejected the claims and said that it is impossible that SKMCH donations were diverted for political purposes.
“When an LDC is signed by the donor, the purpose for donation is mentioned on the cheque. Those who have donated $1,000 or above must have paid the donations through cheques. It can be verified from these cheques,” he said. The information minister added that if this scribe provides the names of those donors, then they can verify from the record whether they contributed to the hospital or to party funds.
PTI’s former chief organiser Saifullah Khan Niyazee denied to comment.
SKMCH response
The SKMCH spokesperson has categorically rejected ‘baseless allegations regarding diversion of donations to other causes.’
In a statement, the SKMCH said, The records of all donations are maintained and all our financial records in Pakistan and overseas are duly audited by independent third parties to ensure compliance with all applicable local regulations.”
It added, “All donations received are recorded and all donors are issued a traceable formal receipt.”
“We treat over 75 per cent of our cancer patients completely free of charge, through the generosity of our donors. All contributions are used solely in fulfilling our mission of providing cancer treatment.”
“Any attempt to besmirch this institution, or to sow doubt in the minds of donors is tantamount to playing with patient’s lives,” it concluded.
Despite the hospital issued a clarification statement, the PTI kept a complete silence so far regarding the use of SKMCH charity for political purposes and its statement is due to come.
