What do you do when you learn that a high national award has been conferred upon your boss? People might respond in very different ways. Some would consider it sufficient to greet the boss the next time they run into him. Those given to flattery might avail this opportunity to gain some brownie points and beeline in front of the boss’s office to pay an obsequious homage. Yet others seeking more intense favours might call on the boss at his residence, loaded with artificial enthusiasm and expensive gifts. The Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), a prestigious and respectable organization of Karachi, however, opted for a uniquely unbecoming method to express its overflowing ecstasy. It put in a quarter-page coloured advertisement in major newspapers to felicitate its boss, the Governor Sindh on being conferred the award of Nishan-e-Imtiaz.
It is not my intention to discuss if the worthy governor, given the situation in Karachi, did in fact deserve a very high national award. But if the interior minister could be conferred a PhD for restoring peace, then the governor could well have a Nishan-e-Imtiaz for convincing the Lord to relocate Heavens to Karachi. The issue of real interest is not the governor, but what made the CPLC use its official funds to felicitate its own boss. Its funding is provided partly by the state and partly by the corporate donations. People trust that the money would be spent for the good of common citizens and not to massage the ego of the governor.
One is surprised that no one from the CPLC staff took a stand on this blatant misuse of organizational funds. This example, however small, speaks a lot about the total collapse or absence of a check and balance process in government institutions. The silence of apparently sane individuals in obviously unethical situations is itself mindboggling. While it may not be possible to completely undo this blunder, can the CPLC management take at least two basic steps to restore public confidence? Refund the amount from their own pocket (a few million rupees) spent on this illegal extravaganza and make a public apology.
NAEEM SADIQ
Karachi