REFERENCE Pervez Nishat`s letter Bahbood certificates(Oct 29). Good luck for your dreams! The God-fearing Mohammad Ishaq Dar, whose every sentence is laced with Alllah ka karam, Allah ki meherbani, Allah ki nawazish, Insha Allah, needs money to finance the numerous foreign trips of the president, the prime minister, governors, ministers, generals and justices, and also for providing for the lavish living expenses of ministers, senior bureaucrats, parliamentarians, senators and others.

Please do not forget the ``empires` of retired generals and justices, their pensions and fringe benefits running into the millions of rupees each month.Our poor God-fearing finance minister has no option but to impose indirect taxes and withholding tax , even on those who live below the poverty line, trying to survive on a dollar a day In this country you would expect consideration for at least senior citizens who have, with hard work, built up some savings, and have regularly paid income tax for 40 years of their working life. They are now being doubly taxed via their hard-earned savings invested in Behbud certificates.

Why are senior citizens being treated so shabbily? Are they garbage to be thrown aside? Dream on, Mr Nishat, you have this freedom.

Mazhar Saeed Karachi