An anti-corruption watchdog has started an investigation into Billion Tree Tsunami, a pet project of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who often highlights it to show his government’s commitment to the climate crisis. The project was launched by the PTI, the country’s main ruling party, when it was ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a mountainous province in the country’s northwest. 

Justice Javed Iqbal (retd), who is the head of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-corruption agency,  has confirmed that they were investigating in Khan’s pet project. The government had spent over $96 million on the project only in the KP province. 

The NAB, an agency that was allegedly behind the ouster of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is often accused of acting as per the wishes of the country’s ‘deep state’. In the last few years, the body came under scrutiny as it had increasingly and selectively targeted political opponents of Imran Khan. 

In a recent public event, when Justice Iqbal faced criticism for not following cases linked to the PTI, he responded that the NAB had been investigating cases against the ruling party as well. Interestingly, in the past several months, inquiries in many cases linked with the ruling party were halted through court orders. 

Furthermore, the Pakistan military, the most powerful entity in the country, is often accused of influencing the working of the NAB, which often recruits and deploys officers and intelligence operatives from the military in politically sensitive cases. 

(SAM)