The common man is confused. Bribery has been redefined as perks of office, allotment of state lands kosher and abuse of discretionary powers a right, while universally accepted ethics of political morality by men like Quaid-e-Azam, Abraham Lincoln and others, is considered outdated. Why does the developed civilised world consider important for state to cater for welfare of deprived, while our state focuses on welfare of elite?
We now hear that morality has no place in the politics of Pakistan, where it is an accepted practice with no conflict of interest involved for public and constitutional office holders to be gifted palatial houses, limousines, expensive branded clothes and watches etc by men, who may even have been declared as tax defaulters by judicial commission, or convicted by superior judiciary, and whose tax returns do not qualify their expensive lifestyles.
Corruption has been redefined as an undesirable act only if low ranking officer accepts bribe, without consent of superior officer. It does not matter if rich criminals involved in publicised heinous crimes of murder, tax evasion and robbing the tax payers, manage to flee country from airports. We live in a country where scores of citizens are brutally murdered in target killings, yet nobody ever gets prosecuted and punished. It seems only fools pay taxes, for there is no immorality or criminality involved if the elite do not pay their due share.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
