Imran Khan

Elites fighting elites, no need to shed tears but some details on Hashwani vs Zardari-Military: Behind the scenes of the Pearl-Continental saga, the Hashwani family’s hospitality empire is being dismantled through an orchestrated corporate squeeze. The battle centers on Pakistan Services Limited (PSL), where outside interests acquired a roughly 56% voting majority by exploiting disputed share pledges and distressed market pricing. With state regulators and courts failing to provide an institutional shield, the family found itself outflanked within its own flagship publicly listed firm. Once voting control was secured, Fauji Foundation moved in to orchestrate the carve-up, compelling the Hashwanis through a forced out-of-court settlement to surrender premier northern and garrison-adjacent properties, including PC Lahore, PC Bhurban, and PC Muzaffarabad. Simultaneously, corporate vehicles tied to the ruling civilian political apparatus specifically Thatta Cement, linked historically to the Omni Group and the inner circle of Zardari, have positioned themselves to take control of the southern assets, including PC Karachi. Sadruddin Hashwani spent decades in a vicious personal feud with Zardari. While large industrialists historically survived civilian vendettas by seeking shelter with the military establishment, the current political reality leaves no room for such maneuvering, as the civilian coalition and military leadership now govern in direct alignment, subservience, partnership, SIFC, whatever else you want to call it. The forced surrender of the PC hotel network sends an unambiguous signal to the wider business community. In Pakistan's current economic model, independent private conglomerates cannot maintain independence without state patronage. When ruling political figures and military-backed conglomerates set their sights on prime commercial assets, regulatory protections evaporate, leaving legacy family dynasties vulnerable to state-backed corporate absorption.

Fauji Foundation bought a Rs 6.55 billion, 19.7% voting stake in Pakistan Services Limited, moving directly into the ownership of the Pearl-Continental hotel chain. It’s the clearest proof yet that the Special Investment Facilitation Council was built as an internal clearinghouse to transfer the country's sovereign and private assets into institutional hands. With foreign capital largely staying away, the legal shields, court exemptions, and single-window powers designed under SIFC are being deployed to swallow the domestic economy whole. First it was millions of acres of farmland handed over to FonGrow under the Green Pakistan Initiative; then national freight and border trade locked down by NLC; mega-infrastructure and critical mineral leases in Balochistan and KP steered to FWO; dozens of PTDC motels and northern tourist sites absorbed under Green Tourism Limited; and now prime legacy commercial hospitality captured via PSL. SIFC has simply legalized the internal takeover of pretty much everything.