Malik Riaz says has refused to become ‘pawn’
Former president and PTI leader Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday reacted to property tycoon Malik Riaz’s claim
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
Malik Riaz, one of wealthiest property tycoons of the country, said on Sunday that he had been “under immense pressure” for over a year but would not allow anyone to use him as a “pawn” for political motives.
The capital was rife with rumours that Riaz, who is the founder of Bahria Town, the largest privately held real estate development company of the country, is under immense pressure from the powers that be, to testify against former prime minister Imran Khan in £190m Al-Qadir Trust case.
However, taking to X, Riaz categorically said that “all my life, Allah has always guided me to stand by my principle of not taking any political sides or being used by one party against the other”.
In the same breath, he continued that “with the help of Allah, the Almighty, I have faced such pressures in the past with absolute grit and strength and even today, in a personal capacity, I can say with utmost certainty, ‘over my dead body’.”
He said that despite his ailing condition and distress, he stands firm in the face of this adversity, bearing financial business loss daily and being pushed to the wall completely, but he will not surrender to any pressure tactics. “Allah will guide and help me through this tough phase with dignity,” he added.
KARACHI: January 14 – President Dr. Arif Alvi addressing the 4th Financial Crime Summit. APP/SDQ/IQJ/ABB/FHA
Arif Alvi reacts to Malik Riaz’s statement
Reacting to Riaz’s statement, the former president – in a statement on X – asserted that the pressure cooker will “burst one of these days”.
“And who will suffer the damage? Not those who have ensured escape routes to foreign countries, but us loyal Pakistanis who have decided to live and die in our country”, Arif Alvi said.
He further said: “We will salvage, make the country prosper with dignity in the comity of nations, even build upon the ashes of the loot [and] plunder going on now under this false, brutal, crooked and blatantly illegal regime”.
According to Arif Alvi, all this will be possible with “Allah’s grace, and under the visionary leadership of [Imran Khan]”.
In a statement on X, the property tycoon alleged that he was under immense pressure for the past one year to compromise, “but I’ll never allow anyone to use me as a pawn for political motives”.
“This has been a recurring pattern of victimisation against me and my business for introducing state-of-the-art projects in Pakistan”, he said, claiming that he has been punished contributing towards the progress of the country.
“Despite my ailing condition and distress, I’m standing firm in the face of this adversity, bearing financial business loss daily and being pushed to the wall completely, but will not surrender to any pressure tactics”, Malik Riaz vowed.