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Posted by admin in Abid Sher Ali, CORRUPT ROGUE NAWAZ SHARIF, Corruption, Corruption in Islamic Countries, CORRUPTION OF SHAHBAZ SHARIF, CORRUPTION-PAKISTAN SUPREME COURT, Criminals, CROOKS, CRUSHING OF PAK AWAM BY PML(N) & NAWAZ SHARIF, DAMAGE TO PAKISTAN BY NAWAZ FAMILY, Election Fraud, ELECTION FRAUD 2013, ELECTION TERRORISTS, ENERGY SCAMS OF NAWAZ SHARIF, KASHMIRI NAWAZ SHARIF & PMLN MNA/MPA KANJAR KHANA, Nawaz "Badami Lassi Kim Barker Thurke" Sharif, Nawaz 's Dauphin, Nawaz Dangerous, Nawaz Sharif & Kashmiri Biradari, NAWAZ SHARIF & PROSTITUTES, NAWAZ SHARIF BUZDIL KARGIL BHAGHORA, Nawaz Sharif Dangerous Man, NAWAZ SHARIF DICTATOR, NAWAZ SHARIF LOAN SCAM, Nawaz Sharif Malcontent, Nawaz Sharif Massive Corruption, NAWAZ SHARIF MUZZLES PRESS, NAWAZ SHARIF SAGA OF ABSOLUTE & CHRONIC CORRUPTION, Nawaz Sharif US Agent, NAWAZ SHARIF US CIA ASSET IN PAKISTAN, Nawaz Sharif Womanizer, NAWAZ SHARIF'S ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, Nawaz Sharif's Petrol Hoarding Money Making Scam, Nawaz Sharif-The Prime Minister from Hell, NAWAZ SHARIF: THE LOOTER, Rana Sanaulla, RAW SPIES IN NAWAZ SHARIF EMPLOYMENT, Serial Killers Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Western Intelligence Agents-Nawaz Sharif & Pervez Rasheed on June 21st, 2016
June 19, 2016
Is a corruption-free Pakistan possible?
A few days back, an old acquaintance asked me about the future pattern of Punjab politics in the wake of a scam as big as the Panama Leaks. I told him nothing is likely to effect any change in the existing pattern of Punjab politics. Not a single parliamentarian has raised a voice or threatened to depose the current rulers because ‘the first family’ has off-shore companies and the source of capital invested is shrouded in obscurity.
Of course it is corruption. But then isn’t that the way of life in the land of the pure? If it is an art, we have perfected it; if it is a science, we have excelled in it. More worryingly, we have accorded legitimacy to corrupt practices. In fact, we celebrate both corruption and the corrupt.
In the Victorian era, man was defined as a symbol of masculinity, white (read Caucasian) and rational with values derived from the Christian faith. If we try to define Pakistani ‘man’, corruption has to be an essential trait that he is bound to carry in order to qualify as ‘man’. He also has to be yaran da yar, (friend of friends) which means a real ‘man’ shows no respect for any law or regulation when it comes to his friends, cronies or sidekicks.
Thus in our case, violating the law or even constitution for that matter symbolises how powerful someone is. For the poor, corruption may be a means of climbing the social ladder but for the rich and affluent, corruption is the means to express power.
Another acquaintance jestingly said the other day that he has tried to make a payment of a few dollars to get his name included in the list that has emerged out of Panama Leaks. I asked him why he did that, knowing he wasn’t serious. He replied that it was a sign of ‘respectability’; it becomes damn easy to marry off a daughter to a boy from a good family if you can affirm your wealth.
Historians (particularly Edward Gibbon) have inferred from the past that when wealth becomes the principal determinant of the values that society respects, the fall of that society becomes inevitable. The same happened with the Romans and they fell, never to rise again. The generation of wealth and even more so its distribution should be carried out through mutually agreed regulations, which the Romans started flouting with impunity, and hence their fall.
For the poor, corruption may be a means of climbing the social ladder but for the rich and affluent, corruption is the means to express power.
Indeed, it needs no less than a miracle for any nation/civilization to rejuvenate itself. China can be put forth as one rare example. But it too will have to go a long way to match the sole super power, USA.
Another of my friends says, “corruption and Pakistan are like two peas in a pod”. His observation seems sweeping, yet it cannot be easily denied. The first and foremost cause of corruption was embedded in the cataclysmic event of Partition. This is depicted in the relevant chapters from the works of Ilyas Chattha, Urvashi Butalia, Yasmin Khan and Vazira Zamindar. Such events as the partition of India are no less than the upheavals of history bringing about the tectonic shift in the established norms of sociology and culture.
As a consequence of an event of such magnitude, usually a break from the past (though selective) is intended which causes rupture in the centuries-old tradition. The process of evolution which is usually gradual and steady is markedly disrupted. Such disruptions tear the affected people apart from the socio-cultural norms and practices which have hitherto defined their collective ethos. Every one, in such a scenario, is running for life. En masse relocation and genocide, such as were concomitant to partition, gave a big blow to the sensibility that binds people together.
Many living the life of relative deprivation in united India saw Pakistan as a land of opportunities, and came to the newly-founded country for economic gains. In the newly established state of Pakistan, regulatory structures were not in place to check any arbitrary practice aiming to amass wealth or to grab property. Thus the people who could, did all that was possible to secure wealth. Partition catapulted many from rags to riches. These sort of sudden changes contravene the smooth and gradual process of evolution, which people find really hard to come to terms with.
Another cataclysmic event was secession of East Pakistan, which gave a big jolt to the morale of the people. The trust in the future of the country was considerably undermined, a ripe situation in which corruption could proliferate.
Unfortunately Pakistan’s politics, right from the outset, was marred by inconsistent transitions. One political order was substituted by the other, with the two having hardly anything in common. Hence, the transition was abrupt and instantaneous. Political compromises of the oddest kind were made merely for personal gains. Characters like Ghulam Muhammad, Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan did not allow institutions to germinate and blossom. The will of the people was not sought, in the first place; if and when elections were held, non-political actors wielded more power than the elected ones.
Therefore, institutions remained weak and their fate uncertain. Religious ideology was deployed for self-legitimisation with disastrous consequences. In such a scenario, when state institutions were weakened beyond measure, corruption flourished rampantly.
Such political choices made by the Pakistani elite conjured up a social fabric which was amenable to practices which were corrupt to the core. I do believe that a social movement spearheaded by the intelligentsia can stall that trend. But Pakistan’s history fails to register the existence of any social movement aimed at raising awareness among the people about such an issue of wider significance. So, thus far, there is no hope for a corruption-free Pakistan.
Posted by admin in Abid Sher Ali, CONF-- -- USED, CORRUPT ROGUE NAWAZ SHARIF, Corruption, COWARD OF KARGIL NAWAZ SHARIF, Criminals, ENERGY SCAMS OF NAWAZ SHARIF, KASHMIRI NAWAZ SHARIF & PMLN MNA/MPA KANJAR KHANA, Nawaz "Badami Lassi Kim Barker Thurke" Sharif, Nawaz & Shahbaz Sharif's Business Scams, Nawaz 's Dauphin, Nawaz Dangerous, Nawaz Sharif & Kashmiri Biradari, NAWAZ SHARIF & PROSTITUTES, NAWAZ SHARIF BUZDIL KARGIL BHAGHORA, Nawaz Sharif Dangerous Man, NAWAZ SHARIF DICTATOR, NAWAZ SHARIF FAMILY TURPITUDE, NAWAZ SHARIF LOAN SCAM, Nawaz Sharif Malcontent, Nawaz Sharif Massive Corruption, NAWAZ SHARIF US & SAUDI AGENT, Nawaz Sharif US Agent, NAWAZ SHARIF US CIA ASSET IN PAKISTAN, Nawaz Sharif Womanizer, Nawaz Sharif's Petrol Hoarding Money Making Scam, Nawaz Sharif-The Prime Minister from Hell, NAWAZ SHARIF: THE LOOTER, Nawaz US Agent, Rana Sanaulla, Serial Killers Nawaz Sharif, Western Intelligence Agents-Nawaz Sharif & Pervez Rasheed on May 31st, 2016
Posted by admin in Asif Zardari Crook Par Excellance, BILAWAL ZARDARI BAMBINO KINGS OF CORRUPTION, Corruption, Corruption in Islamic Countries, CORRUPTION OF SHAHBAZ SHARIF, CORRUPTION-PAKISTAN SUPREME COURT, COWARD OF KARGIL NAWAZ SHARIF, CRUSHING OF PAK AWAM BY PML(N) & NAWAZ SHARIF, Economic Terrorists of Pakistan, ENERGY SCAMS OF NAWAZ SHARIF, MALIK RIAZ, Nawaz & Shahbaz Sharif's Business Scams, Nawaz Sharif :Abbaji Da Nikama Puttur.", NAWAZ SHARIF SAGA OF ABSOLUTE & CHRONIC CORRUPTION, NAWAZ SHARIF THIEF, NAWAZ SHARIF US & SAUDI AGENT, Nawaz Sharif US Agent, NAWAZ SHARIF: THE LOOTER, PIA Destruction By Nawaz Sharif, Privatisation, Sugar Industry Corruption By Nawaz Sharif & Asif Zardari & Bilawal Zardari on May 27th, 2016
Posted by admin in Corruption on February 26th, 2016
Posted by admin in Corruption, Looters and Scam Artists, Pakistan's Hall of Shame, SCAMMER & FRAUDIAS, Tax Choor Ministers & Nawaz Sharif, Thieves of PMLN & PPP on December 19th, 2015
THE recent exchange of artillery salvos between Islamabad and Karachi over the Rangers’ operation in Sindh exposes the tension between the federal and provincial governments.
As the PPP government in Sindh continued to drag its feet over renewing its approval of the operation, Chaudhry Nisar, the abrasive interior minister, upped the ante by hinting at governor’s rule in the province. While clearly a setback for democracy, such an extreme step would not be unwelcome among large segments of the population.
When the MQM was the focus of attention from the Rangers with its headquarters being raided, its senior members being arrested, and its activists — many of them alleged killers — being hounded, the PPP was a silent witness. But when its own Aman Committee thugs were targeted, and its bagmen locked up, there were loud squeals of anguish.
Insisting that investigation of corruption by provincial bigwigs was outside the remit granted the Rangers, the PPP cited constitutional provisions about the rights of the provinces. Clearly, the party feels that its leaders should be allowed to suck the province dry without let or hindrance from the centre.
The irony here is that some of those in Islamabad pressing for tough action against violence and corruption in Sindh have apparently not been above helping themselves to the national exchequer. And for months, the PML-N leadership delayed action against the Taliban. Even today, some of its members are on the same wavelength as the jihadis.
But while this may be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, any improvement in security in Sindh — and especially in Karachi — is to be welcomed. Although the leadership of both the MQM and the PPP have reason to oppose the intrusion of the federal government in their fiefdoms, most people have welcomed it. Demonstrations in favour of the operation being conducted by the Rangers across the province are testimony to its popularity. Even though there are rumours that some of these protests were instigated by the Rangers, everybody I have talked to in Karachi and in rural Sindh supports the operation.
The truth is that things had got so bad in the province that millions were desperate for protection, no matter where it came from. A battalion of horned demons would be applauded if they could make Karachi’s mean streets safe again. The Rangers, not subject to the same political interference that had hobbled the police, have smashed several criminal syndicates that enjoyed protection from party leaders who shared in the spoils.
There have been several reported incidents where the Rangers have misused their powers. But by and large, their crackdown has been effective and focused. Probably the most controversial step they have taken is the arrest and detention of Dr Asim Hussain, allegedly Asif Zardari’s frontman and close buddy.
After the 90-day remand period, he was handed over to the police who have recommended his release as, according to them, there is no proof linking him to any terrorist activity. The Rangers are moving the Sindh High Court to block his discharge as they claim the police have destroyed the relevant evidence.
This extraordinary case between two state agencies again underlines the friction between the federal and provincial governments. Obviously, the police reports to the provincial administration that has every interest in getting Dr Hussain freed. The Rangers, on the other hand, want him tried for allegedly giving terrorists sanctuary in his hospital.
This newspaper has argued in a recent editorial that the Sindh government has every right to seek the assembly’s approval for an extension. Of course it does. But such an exercise in democratic procedure should not have been allowed to turn into the farce that it became. Now, with a diluted approval, it remains to be seen how effective the Rangers will be, and how much acrimony it will generate between the centre and the provincial government.
The reality is that the provincial assembly is seldom used to discuss and debate the abysmal state of law and order, health, education and the infrastructure. Both the PPP and the MQM use the assembly to squabble over irrelevant issues. Issues vital to Sindh’s beleaguered population are seldom aired, let alone resolved.
An online survey conducted by this newspaper found that 84pc of the 4,000 or so respondents polled support the operation. Being online, it is not really representative of Pakistan. But the handful of politicians opposing it benefit from the lawlessness they preside over, and resent any interference in their misrule and corruption.
If anything, the recent local bodies elections showed how the PPP used its muscle to bully the opposition into abandoning the field. The unopposed victory of many of its candidates is testimony not of its popularity, but its undemocratic practices. For this party now to claim the democratic high ground to oppose the Rangers is pure hypocrisy.
Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2015
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