In a historic first, Pakistan releases Toshakhana gifts record

In a historic first, the Pakistani government made public the details of foreign gifts retained by public office holders — presidents, prime ministers, federal cabinet members, politicians, bureaucrats, retired generals, judges and journalists from 2002 to 2022 on Sunday (12 March).

Toshakhana gifts have long been a controversial topic in Pakistani politics. Many senior state officials have allegedly taken home expensive presents that they receive from foreign dignitaries by paying a little amount and later selling them on the open market for a big premium, and keeping the profit. Most of the gifts were retained by the office holders free of cost except for a few ones, reports Dawn citing Pak government documents. 

The document's 446 pages provide records for the years 2002 through 2022. Earlier, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the federal government had agreed not to declassify the information from the state repository. 

Pak government records show that 224 gifts were received in 2022, 116 in 2021, 175 in 2018, 91 in 2014, and 177 in 2015. In 2015, however, 177 presents were received by government officials.

The document contains records of presents kept by former prime ministers Shaukat Aziz, Nawaz Sharif, Yusuf Raza Gilani, Imran Khan and Raja Parvez Ashraf, as well as later-former president General Parvez Musharraf.

According to the records, Imran Khan spent Rs85 million on a diamond and gold watch, Rs5.67 million on a pair of cufflinks, Rs1.5 million on a pen, and Rs8.7 million on a ring. The previous Pak premier paid almost Rs20 million to keep all the presents. In addition, he paid Rs754,000 to keep a watch worth Rs3.88 million.

In recent days, Toshakhana gifts have caught the imagination of a normal Pakistani as the country's former prime minister Imran Khan, who still has a lot of clouts among the general public, evaded arrest in the case related to these gifts. 

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) earlier, in its verdict in the Toshakhana case against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, disqualified him from the country's National Assembly. The electoral body gave its verdict saying Imran made "false statements and incorrect declaration" regarding the Toshakhana gifts.

A criminal case that was submitted by the Election Commission of Pakistan is being heard at the federal capital's Districts and Sessions Court.