ISLAMABAD: Except for Senator Talha Mehmood of the JUI-F, none of the members of the upper house belonging to religious parties, including Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq, owns a car or have any source of earning.

According to the statements of assets filed by the senators with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the fiscal year ending on June 30, neither deputy chairman Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri nor Maulana Ataur Rehman, a brother of the JUI chief, or any other senator of the party have any source of income.

Similarly, the JI chief Sirajul Haq has stated in his statement of assets that he had a limited agricultural land jointly owned by the family and another piece of 12 kanals in his native district of Lower Dir.

According to statements filed with the ECP, only Senator Talha Mehmood owns assets

Besides, his only investment was the share in a private school in Khal tehsil of his native district.

Sirajul Haq’s statement of assets also showed that he received no remittances and his wife possessed no jewellery. They do not own any house or a car, motorcycle or any other vehicle. He has Rs1 million in three bank accounts. There is no mention of household furniture or any other asset, including weapons.

Maulana Ataur Rehman has two houses in D.I. Khan - one valued Rs400,000 and the other worth 2.50 million.

He too has not declared any source of income nor does he has any investments. There are only Rs800,000 in his account in a bank located in the parliament building that receives his salary as a senator.

Maulana Ata has no vehicle, his wife has 50 tola gold jewellery and the family has household furniture worth Rs50,000.

Deputy Chairman Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri’s statement shows that there is no significant amount in his four bank accounts, and neither there is any liability against him.

He also has no source of income, investment, receivables and does not own any vehicle, jewellery etc. However, Maulana Haideri has a 10-marla plot in Bhara Kahu Islamabad that is valued Rs500,000. Besides, he also has a house in Kalat worth Rs500,000 and a plot in Gwadar worth Rs150,000.

JUI-F Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar owns a madressah – Jamia Miftaul Uloom – in Mastung worth Rs6 million and also has a house worth Rs1.20 million. However, like the rest of his party members, he too has no significant assets and no liabilities.

Mufti Abdul Sattar stated that he had no car, his wife possessed no jewellery, no furniture worth mentioning, no investments and no source of income. His senate salary account has Rs53,000.

Likewise, JUI-F Senator Hafiz Hamddullah too has no source of income, no investments, no car or any other vehicle and has Rs103,317 in his salary account as a senator.

However, he has a family-owned house in Quetta that is worth Rs22.8 million with furniture worth Rs150,000. His wife has eight tola gold.

Meanwhile, the non-cleric JUI-F member of the Senate, Talha Mahmood, stated that he and his spouse owned assets worth over Rs427 million.

Senator Talha stated that the worth of his 20 industrial and residential properties was Rs314.72 million.

A known industrialist, Senator Talha has investments of Rs21.85 million, 10 vehicles - six owned by him and four belonging to his son - worth Rs47.44 million.

Senator Talha also has Rs28.17 million cash in banks and the total assets owned by his spouse is Rs13.5 million. But she has not listed the value of two houses in Sector F-7/1. They have household furniture worth Rs2.70 million.

However, contrary to the casual announcements made in some Senate standing committees about the weapons he possessed and his hunting experiences, Senator Talha did not list any rifle or other weapon in the statement.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2016