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Corruption and bribery have been the bane of every society in various degree throughout
the ages. All prophets, saints, political and social scientists have crusaded against the
vicious and malicious consequences of corruption.

In our country corruption is just like the oil that makes the wheels of the government run,
for the structure of our polity is such that people on all rungs of government have
satisfied their conscience one way or the other that graft and bribery are the only* way
they can make a decent living.

With regard to corruption and violence Rousseau once said: "It was only when the
serpent entered society in the form of private property that the life of man changed from
prosperity to adversity."

Corruption is the mother of gll evils. It breeds and promotes all others conceivable vices
in society. It is responsible for lawlessness, disorder, injustice, turmoil, frustration and
anarchy. It not only ruins the institutions and the system but also brings about
deterioration and decadence in the moral, spirit, character and panache of people. The
living standard to people and triumph or discomfiture of a government greatly lie with the
dimension and scope of corruption in any country.

Most of our governments have been dismissed on corruption charges but no one has yet
been punished for being corrupt. Corruption has become a way life and acquired a new
meaning and respectability in Pakistan. Today, corruption originating from the top has
permeated all strata and classes right to vendors and milkmen.

Transparency International has listed Pakistan as the third most corrupt country in the
world after Indonesia and China. Transparency International has been formed by many
persons who had once served in the World Bank and other international organisations.

The cancer of corruption has eaten into the vitals of all institutions of Pakistan. So long as
we are aware of the inimical

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effects of corruption, we must not let it go on. \ world-wide, but as long as reasons for it
are root .- ^ vs

must combat it with full rigour and vigour. In P& ^

is primarily a product of bureaucratic culture whicv „ colonial in nature. \

The administrative personnel do not perceive _• as

catalysts in the task of national reconstruction and deveK -cnt, for they see themselves as
dispersers in favour and treat the masses as recipients of patronage.

Although some people of our society are not jealous of other and do not like to compete
for worldly needs since they think this may disturb their clam and cost life yet the evil of
amassing more and more wealth at the cost of others had now entered our society, or
instance, a few years ago, people looking for bridegroom for their daughters used to go
for an honest person. Now their primary consideration is to see that their prospective son-
in-law must have maximum money.

Our generation was advised by the ciders not even to look at ill-gotten money. The elders
were so particular about honest living that they would not accept an invitation to a meal
from a person who lived beyond his means. Society used to abominate persons receiving
bribes or indulging in other corrupt practices. People used to avoid to have association
with persons known to be corrupt. Curiously enough, today we are least concerned about
our responsibility to our countrymen. Our first and foremost concern is only to fill bags
of money by hook or by crook. Do we bear any mark of compunction on our faces and
avoid facing the honest people keeping in view the apprehension of being wiggled?

In Pakistan, corruption has become a way of life, bin ilinu the poor, feeding the rich -
unshakeable and immutable. Children of corrupt officials with salaries often thousand
rupees go to schools where free alone costs more than the salary of their parents. On the
other hand, children of honest and righteous officials go to substandard schools, resorting
to pillion-riding or hitch-hiking.

Every government since the regime of Ayub Khan has patronised and promoted
corruption. At present, corruption is an art practised and patronised by all the haughty and
mighty in Pakistan. It is being pursued most dishonourably without any fear and
accountability by the powerful and influential people.

We have miserably failed almost in every domain including agriculture, education,

health, population control, law and order362
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365

..nd even defence. On the other band, >ve have made outstanding headway in corruption.

If we scan Pakistan's history, we will learn that corruption was little known before the
regime of Ayub Khan. Politicians like Liaquat Ali Khan, Nazim-ud-Din, Fazal Haque,
Tamiz-ud-Din, passed away penniless. Even Sikandar Mirza worked for a living during
his exile days in England. Today, unfortunately, the pace of corruption is promoted by the
very leaders whose first and foremost duty is to combat and eradicate it. Instead, the
whole structure and system of the government is being erected on incompetence,
approach, nepotism, corruption and bribery which will, it not checked in an opposite way,
utterly wreck every institution and department.

At the dawn of this year, three Indian Federal Ministers resigned from Prime Minister
Narasimha "Rao's Cabinet following the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charging
them with corruption. They were accused of receiving, between 1983 and 1991, more
than 21 million dollars from a Delhi-based business magnate, Suredra Jain, to secure
contracts or in exchange for favours. The Indian PM had given the CBI the green signal
to charge sheet the three sitting ministers and to file cases against them in the Supreme
Court. Can our FIA take similar action against our minister?

The bureaucrats and politicians across the political divide have combined into a most
sinister venture "of plunder. They do subvert any genuine attempt at accountability. The
task of extinguishing the burner of corruption is made more difficult by institutional
fairly and legal loopholes.

The long and strong hands of corruption seem to spare no sector, either it is small or big.
The diabolical extent of corruption particularly in the police service has broken all
records where police stations are sold to the higher bidders among police officer, who are
then free to make as mucli money as they can.

Efforts of the FACC have ended in fiasco to punish the corrupt since the FACC has found
out many cases of massive fraud an heavy misappropriation. Unfortunately, the corrupt
are highly place and well-connected in a changing political scenario in which they have
strong political connections. That is why successive anticorruption committees over the
decades came with a bang and vanished with a whimper.

The evasion of income tax by the landlords* mill-owners, business magnates and
lawyers, etc., is pernicious to the economy of Pakistan and eventually burgeons
corruption in society.
The corruption to be seen among our ruling politicians does have some specific
dimensions. It has very distinct feudal undertones. The task of making headway in the
social sector is generally treated with contempt. A sense of abomination is reflected in
most significant areas like education, health and population planning. Karachi's story has
become very tortuous and complex but a large part of the problem is the inadequacy of
the feudal mind to comprehend the urban challenge and sympathise with the travails of
the citizens.

A corrupt society cannot survive indefinitely, for it is against the law of nature. When
corruption becomes a way of life, nothing goes right. Even dispensation of justice ceases
to exist.

Corruption either of past or present is equally punishable under all laws. During early
seventies, there was a proposal of enactment of Islamic laws of amputation of hand for
theft. The late Governor of NWFP Arbab Sikandar Khan Kalil humorously but scholarly
suggested that hands of all those people who had constructed big bungalows in posh
towns with unfair money should be cut first to meet the demands of justice.

Due to vague concept of accountability a very small number of people works with
honesty and assiduity while the majority normally prefers to tow the easier path.

In order to contain the burgeoning corruption triumphantly, the following suggestions are
penned down:-

1. A lot of thins still nee to be doe, more than forming bodies like the FACC. To begin
with, key political personalities of the Federal Government need to straighten up their
own acts. As a token of their firm resolution to check corruption,

- they should solemnly pledge that offer of millions of rupees will never tempt them;

2. • An independent anti-corruption commission should be

established, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan with full contempt of court powers
and a large investigating staff directly under him;

3. The process of enforcing accountability must be decentralised and

spread through the institutional spectrum. Without the right person in job,
desired objectives cannot be achieved. So, if honesty be the objective in making
senior bureaucratic appointments, the primary criterion should be personal integrity; 366
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4. Corruption stems from the exercise of power and is a continuing phenomenon. Hence,
an incessant, effective and institutionalised accountability process must always shadow
those who wield power. And if the corruption crusade finds any chance of success, the
government must establish its credentials as the promoter of honesty;
5. Process of accountability should be initiated from the top. Corrupt officials should not
only be dismissed but also be imprisoned and deprived of their properties by confiscation.
Corrupt politicians should not only be debarred from contesting elections but also be
imprisoned and their properties be confiscated;

6. The emphasis of the corruption crusade must remain on cleansing the bureaucracy to
establish it as a bulwark against political corruption;

7. The government must progress beyond arrests and allegations. The trials must
begin without any delay and charges must be proved in courts of law. Swindlers, tax
dodgers and loan defaulters must be hounded and sent to jail as quickly as possible;

8. The outcome of the battle against corruption lies with a basic transformation of
bureaucratic culture and sweeping changes in rules and procedures;

9. The present political system based and entrenched on feudalism and feudal will have
to be completely demolished. Indubitably, sovereignty and freedom of people have been
usurped by this class in the name of sham and farce democracy where people have
nominal role. Pithily, the real solution is more democracy, decentralisation of power,
more autonomy and maximum participation of the masses through honest political
institutions..