The court called him ‘whimsical’. Instead of it leading to some introspective composure and contemplation of corrective measures, it prompted the Chief Minister, Punjab to come out with a long narrative staking a self-righteous claim to being the ‘guardian of public money’. Paragraph after paragraph, the meaningless composition is reflective of total moral and intellectual bankruptcy on the one hand, and its complete irrelevance to either the context in which the court made the statement, or the comments that have appeared in sections of the press.
The Chief Minister states in his rejoinder: ‘If the development of the PIA Park is a whim, it has been a fairly long drawn out one’. This is a typical ‘political’ response to what has nothing to do with politics and, instead, concerns the dynamics behind the decision-making process. The term ‘whimsical’ does not concern the decision to develop the park, but the manner in which the Chief Minister is reported to have ordered the institution of cases against its developer.
As to the CM’s claim to be the ‘guardian of public money’, it quite simply does not appear to be the case. The instances to the contrary are numerous. The manner in which the CM Secretariat is sitting on the case of millions of rupees of ‘public money’ embezzled at the office of the DGPR, Punjab and rewarding through appointment at senior positions in the provincial administration those who have openly tried to sabotage the process of justice, the manner in which the public park in front of a house in Gulberg, Lahore has been converted into a fortification which is consuming a significant amount from the ‘public money’ by way of maintenance of the structures and security personnel guarding the premises, the amount of ‘public money’ being invested into the maintenance of countless lavish CM Secretariats in Lahore alone when the impoverished province can ill-afford even one, or the billions wasted on ‘Sasti Roti’ Scheme, or the Daanish edifice constructed on the demise of a vast network of schools throughout the province costing billions from the ‘public money’ are just a few to illustrate the point.
More crucially, the manner in which officials are being hired for key positions in an openly non-transparent manner by using the yardstick of personal loyalty alone is an insult to the claim of running a ‘clean’ administration. The CM’s attempt to escape responsibility is a classic case of trying to decimate questions of credibility with the dubious sword of politics.
A bizarre manifestation of the lack of transparency in the manner the provincial administration is handling its affairs concerns one Dr Hassan Amir Shah – no member or sympathiser of the PPP. He heads the Physics Department at the Government College University. He is an acclaimed scholar and his papers have been published extensively internationally which are recognised for the quality of their research and merit. When the post of the vice-chancellor was advertised, he was one of the proud applicants laying a rightful claim to leading an institution that he had served meritoriously. Dr Shah, understandably, fulfilled all the requisites of the job. Much to the amazement of the applicant and those who have known him through years of intellectually stimulating association, Dr Shah was not considered eligible for the job and he was not even short-listed for an interview by the Search Committee arbitrarily appointed by the Chief Minister.
Being the honourable gentleman that he is, he is fighting it out in a court of law. But, in a strange twist of fate, it is the same Dr Shah whose work and services have been publicly acclaimed through his nomination for the award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan. Would the Chief Minister contest the conferment of the prestigious award on Dr Shah in a court of law, or would he, instead, prefer to institute an enquiry into the reasons why Dr Shah was not considered eligible to be the vice-chancellor of Government College University by his hand-picked search committee? As Marcellus would bemoan: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”!
While corruption is an open reality and institutions are being systematically subverted and brutalised to protect the guilty, a movement is taking shape against the marauding evil across the border in India. Anna Hazare stands tall as a bulwark against the curse of corruption. In an exhibition of raw courage, he refused to leave the jail unless allowed to return to the city park where he had originally planned his hunger strike against the rampaging monstrosity. Measure this against the lack of courage of our claimants to leadership who sign deals with dictators to escape prison.
There is a fair bit of grassroots resentment against corruption in Pakistan also, but this is not figuring in shape of an organised effort to fight the curse which is adding enormously to the woes of an impoverished people. The possible effort could encompass two dimensions: a credible and powerful movement, ala Anna Hazare, against the evil that should spread out on the roads and streets of Pakistan and through an exhibition of proactive and uninhibited support to the efforts that the Supreme Court is so courageously making for bringing the curse to an end. The NICL scam is a case in point that can be used to re-shape the destiny of the country and its people.
Whether we would continue languishing at the mercy of the corrupt and the incompetent ruling elite, or we would make an honest effort to rid ourselves of their tentacles to put the country on course to salvation depends entirely on the way we shape our response. There really is no option but one: follow the path chalked out by the brave Anna Hazare. He could not have intervened at a more opportune time.
The writer is a political analyst. He is also a member of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf. He can be reached at raoofhasan@hotmail.com