Former Indian MP and President of the newly-floated YSR Congress Party Jaganmohan Reddy has declared the assets of 365 crore Indian Rupees (while filing his nomination for the by-polls which are to be held next month in India.
Our politicians have the same life style like Indian politicians but the only difference is that our politicians declare that their assets are in thousands. The assets which are declared by our politicians must be checked by any credible institution (which is missing in Pakistan).
The recent protests in India initiated by Anna Hazare have pushed the government to take steps regarding the Lokpal Bill which is anti-corruption. The Indians have stood up as one against the malaise of corruption affecting their society and they have showed that peaceful peoples protests can be a strong tool to incite change.
Like I said earlier, Pakistani politicians are as bad, if not worse, when it comes to corruption and using state resources for self-enrichment and luxury. We must also unite to ask our government to come up an institution or ombudsman which will monitor our representatives and probe their assets so we can see whether they are really telling the truth about just owning thousands or they have billions stashed somewhere.
MUHAMMAD SAJID
Karachi
