Beasts, too, have rights!
Who says there is no rule of law in Pakistan? Look at the way state authorities and state laws have jumped into action in the matter of Axact, a company reportedly involved in a multi-million-dollar mega scam of astonishing and, for some, mouth-watering proportions.
The swift action by law enforcement agencies has been applauded amid raised eye brows and whispering suspicions. In Pakistan, where rule of law happens to be perched at the lowest rung of state priorities, such action instead of answering questions, raises more to be answered.
Internationally, Pakistan has been accused of all the crimes under the sky. From terrorism, money laundering to petty frauds, Pakistan has remained in the global spotlight. Our green passport is wrapped in shades of doubt. But very few such accusations have been graced with state response of this scale. Most allegations have been dubbed conspiracies and others just brushed under the carpet.
So in this backdrop it is quite surprising to see how state authorities have acted in the matter of Axact. FIA, SECP, interior ministry, FBR, have all come out in unison to grab the owner of Axact, who perhaps is now officially our very own OBL of cyber-crime, the most wanted man for the time being. He may be protected officially but he cannot escape, is our motto.
That may be true. The owner of Axact may have broken the law on his way to satisfy his pecuniary appetite, but he is not alone in this crime. His tax returns strongly suggest that all is not above board, but at least he can boast to have filed one. The allegation of running a “diploma mill” where he offered and gave online fictitious college degrees to numerous unsuspecting aspirants may also hold water, as if there was no such activity going on here. Remember our own ghost schools. We have “mills” doling out fictitious votes, certificates, licenses, CNICs, passports and degrees. I recall, with considerable unease, how a respected politician once remarked that a degree is a degree whether original or fictitious!
The interior ministry, which ordered action against Axact, relied exclusively on the investigative report published in the NYT. Has the ministry not set a dangerous precedent by acting blindly on an investigative report of a foreign newspaper? Was this report so powerful that it jolted our LEAs into action and forced them to abandon their coffins and for once do what they are supposed to do, i.e., enforce law? Or is the action meant to give a clean chit? Or perhaps Pakistan wanted to act first and screen the powerful hands behind the alleged criminal activity by creating a scapegoat worthy of being presented as the master mind, before the state department of America stepped in?
Pakistan has many stories to tell. We have our own mafias and godfathers with state sponsored licenses to loot and kill. Our cartels and untouchables running them also make for interesting news every now and then. Our political mess is just that — a mess. The judiciary, our sleeping beauty, is basking in self-induced slumber. The media has turned into a monster, devouring in the name of competition and ratings, the leftover scraps of decency, self-respect, morality, positivity this nation once had. And above all we have Axact, a cunning vicious beast that must be captured and killed.
Nothing wrong with that, provided due process of law is followed. Yes, beasts too have rights! In fact in Pakistan only beasts have rights, the wrongs are left for the lesser mortals that constitute, say, about 99 percent of this land.
So when our state machinery teams up with this unrelenting determination, totally focused on a single agenda, to nab the perpetrators of this fraud, we are compelled to inquire rather politely if everything was alright. Our State machinery does not work this way. In fact it does not work in any way. This is quite unusual. Out-of-the-blue kind of a thing. We are not accustomed to such swift enforcement of the law. We know law that drags its feet and not law that has hare legs. Spare us this speed lest we start demanding it every time. The massacres of APS Peshawar, Model Town, LDA Lahore, Baldia Karachi, Hazara Balochistan, are treated in accordance with the law that we know. Exactly what is confronting Axact, in the name of law, will require more time and patience for us to understand.
Some term this stern action a pre-emptory strike to stop the inauguration of an upcoming TV Channel, BOL. Cut throat competition is the concealed justification. A new entrant attempting to make its presence felt in our electronic media apparently has been denied entry by the big wigs. Anchors, analysts, commentators, opinion-makers from different media groups were lured to join BOL at exorbitant packages only fools would reject. One media group is reported to have sold his channel to BOL. This new media group has stepped on so many influential feet that there is hardly any sympathetic voice in its favour. BOL must be silenced, is the unified pledge.
So what could be more potent than a state gag? Discredit BOL and its owners, is the popular suggestion. Nip it in the bud, is another advice. Cut their throats, literally, in the name of competition, opined an angry media manager earning far less than his contemporaries in BOL!
For many like me, this is yet another story with headlines but without results. Yes we will have the usual hue and cry. There will be confrontation, fights and bouts. Battle lines will be drawn. Fists and slogans will be raised. Sermons will be delivered. The self-righteous will appear on the Idiot Box to upset our national discourse. Lawyers will have a field day. Reconciliatory forces too may earn a dime or two. But once the pockets become full, there will be a hushed silence. Forgive and forget is our national mantra. We will continue to follow that. Meanwhile, enjoy the crazy circus. And of course get your degrees checked.
