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Who Owns Pakistan - Yimg

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Sugar Mills and Samundri Sugar Mills of Punjab Industrial Development Board<br />

(PIDB) were privatized to Monnoos and United group. Within months of coming<br />

into power as Prime Minister in 1990, the management of National Development<br />

Leasing Corporation (NDLC) was withdrawn from House of Habib and handed<br />

over to the United group.<br />

Nearly half of the assets privatized by Nawaz Sharif ended up with Mansha, his<br />

relatives or business associates. But bringing together the National group to bid<br />

for Muslim Commercial Bank was the biggest business coupe that Chiniotis could<br />

have staged against their main business rivals. Before nationalization, Muslim<br />

Commercial Bank was a Memon Bank owned by Adamjee and its purchase by<br />

Chiniotis demonstrated their rising power and the decline of the Memons. The<br />

National group which bought Muslim Commercial Bank was a consortium of 12<br />

leading industrial families, of whom all but two, Chakwal and Bashir Jan<br />

Mohammad were not Chinioti. While Muslim Commercial Bank was the flagship<br />

of Chiniotis rising power, they called upon a Memon banker Hussain Lawai to<br />

head it.<br />

A Nishat group profile in 1990 estimated that its assets were worth Rs 4 billion<br />

but the group profile in 1993 placed its assets at Rs 10 billion, a phenominal<br />

250% increase in assets in three years.<br />

Seventy five percent of the newly listed companies during three years of Nawaz<br />

Sharif belonged to the Chiniotis. Mansha launched seven new companies and<br />

Crescent listed eight new companies at the Karachi Stock Exchange.<br />

Earlier in this book we have reported about the Gas-war between the Memons<br />

and the Ismaeeli Khojas (Fancy) over the setting up of the first Non-Memon<br />

Textile Mills in Karachi but the resignation with which the Memons allowed<br />

Chiniotis to overtake them, in Bhutto and post-Bhutto era is amazing and a loud<br />

proclaimation of their disinterest in long-term economic development of <strong>Pakistan</strong>.<br />

While in 1960's every fourth factory in <strong>Pakistan</strong> belonged to a Memon, the<br />

Chiniotis own 125 out of 750 companies listed on the KSE in 1997.<br />

Chiniotis are a close fraternity who seldom marry outside their clan, with the<br />

result that marriages have come to play an importent role in their growth and<br />

kinship. During his interview with the author, Mian Habib took out a red book from<br />

his drawer which contained the names of 80 Chiniotis living in Islamabad and<br />

said that in the event of a marriage, a party or a tragedy in a Chinioti family, first<br />

people to get the information are the people listed in the book. Every city has its<br />

own directory of the Chiniotis.<br />

Chiniotis take pride that they are born businessmen and serve through industry.<br />

Unlike Memons who have a Memon Society of Professionals, there are very few<br />

prominent Chinioti professionals or civil servants. Mazhar Rafi, former Secretary<br />

Defense Production was the most well known Chinioti to succeed outside<br />

83

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