Tareen arrives in Pakistan to ‘fix’ the sugar crisis
LAHORE: Senior PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen has arrived in Pakistan after a 7 month hiatus from Pakistani politics.
The billionaire politician had left Pakistan after he was named in the Sugar Inquiry Report released by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Pakistan. The FIA held that Jahangir Tareen was a major beneficiary of the sugar crisis and received the highest amount in sugar subsidies for export.
Later on, Jahangir Tareen claimed that a group close to the Prime Minister led by Azam Khan who serves as Secretary to the Prime Minister Imran Khan was behind his ouster from the inner circle of Imran Khan.
Sources privy to these matters claimed that Tareen had threatened Azam Khan with raising sugar prices above 100 rs per kilo if he was targeted in the FIA’s inquiry report.
After Tareen’s name came in the report and the distance between Imran Khan and his former right hand man increased, sugar prices in the country increased rapidly, with the latest price of 115 per kilo as of the filing of this report.
In a tv interview, Tareen had accepted that he was not as close to the Prime Minister as he once was but his return to Pakistan signals a new arrangement where the PTI government has realised that the value and utility of Jahangir Tareen according to internal sources.
Tareen has claimed that he will play his part in helping the government overcome the sugar crisis.
Previously, Tareen has admitted that he owns and controls almost 20% of the sugar supply of Pakistan, a country with a 200 million population and a high sugar intake.
Speaking to the media in the airport, Tareen dismissed speculations about his alleged involvement in the sugar scandal. Tareen said, “It is the Opposition’s job to hurl allegations and I do not feel that there is a need to reply to them.”
“Thanks to the Almighty, all my business is clean,” he asserted.
Upon arrival in Pakistan, Tareen confirmed that JDW Sugar Mills, was not part of any petition against the Punjab government’s decision to commence sugar crushing on November 10.
“All my mills, including those in Sindh, will start crushing on the 10th,” he asserted. “[I] will play my part in helping the government overcome [the] sugar shortage and price hike.”
