After the heavy political turmoil, things have got even worse and it’s going on. The current government is fully in control and trying to paint the former Prime Minister Imran Khan with some ridiculous charges that makes no sense at all.
Currently, all of you might have heard a new word “Toshakhana Gifts”, which has been received by the Imran Khan under his three and a half year regime.
But for those who don’t know about this term and want to know what exactly the Toshakhana word means? Along with it how do such gifts thing operate in government areas and why was Imran Khan asked to return his gifts too?
Everything will be answered here properly and briefly with facts.
What is Toshakhana?
Toshakana is a Persian word that originally translates into “treasure-house”. In the early era of Mughal, when they ruled over India, a Toshakhana is a place where princes used to store their “gifts and emblems of honor that they received for their posterity.
Many countries have Toshakhana, especially in India according to the protocol all gifts received by the Prime Minister and other officials from overseas have to be deposited in Toshakhana for evaluation. Even in Pakistan Toshakhana does exist, it’s a government-owned department under the control of the Cabinet Division of Pakistan formed in 1974.
In the past decade, none of you have heard this term because no one brought it up until the current government demanded that ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan had to return all the Toshakhana gifts so we can evaluate them.
It’s a big case going on right now and the high court has also taken some strict actions on it. The IHC also released a strong statement against the Toshakhana gifts case.
Imran Khan’s Toshakhana Gifts Case
After Imran Khan became the first prime minister to be ousted through the no-trust vote, the new government started digging to portray Imran Khan as a corrupt politician and embarrass him.
The case came out, and the details of Toshakhana gifts also revealed that shocked everyone with the value each gift held. An expensive watch was among the four gifts that Imran Khan had decided to retain after paying their nominal price, a senior government official disclosed.
The other three gifts include a pin, ring, and cufflinks. Now comes the value of such assets. The value of the watch was Rs85 million while the pen’s worth was estimated to be Rs15 million, the ring Rs9 million, and the cufflinks Rs6 million.
Now the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday said that the state gifts cannot be taken home and ordered to recover all the Toshakhana gifts.
IHC judge Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb released a statement after hearing the Cabinet Division’s petition against sharing the details of the foreign gifts obtained by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“State gifts belong to the office. These [gifts] cannot be taken home,” remarked the judge. He ordered to recover the Toshakhana gifts from those who had taken them home.
“People come and go but the Prime Minister’s Office remains the same,” he stated.
IHC judge further said, that there shouldn’t have been a policy to pay a percentage of the actual price and take the gift home. He stated that all the state gifts should be kept in a public place. He underscored the need for a new policy under which all the state gifts should be submitted to the national kitty.
‘Mera tohfa, meri marzi’ – Imran Khan
Soon the IHC gave orders and released a statement. On April 18, ex-prime minister Imran Khan responded to the Toshakana controversy. He said that they were his gifts, so it was his choice whether to keep them or not.
“Mera tohfa, meri marzi [my gift, my choice],” the PTI chairman, who became the first prime minister to be ousted through the no-trust vote, told reporters during an informal conversation.
So, that’s what Toshakhana means and it’s been going on for the past decades. Apart from Pakistan and India Bangladesh also has its own Toshakhana as well.
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