For a good number of months, I thought it was counterproductive writing as it appeared to carry little weight. Instead, in a way, it added to one’s frustrations. But there were some who contended that one must keep projecting what one construed as an ingredient of the ultimate prognosis irrespective of whetheror not it mayhave an impact.Well, Ihave actually given in to this motivation. So, here it is for whatever it may be worth. In a way, one is constantly engaged in a balancing act, trying to facilitate attainment of one’s perceived ambition in life, or rising to the pinnacle of achievement. Therein may also be hidden the cardinal issue of not being able to, or not willing to distinguish between the spectrum of objectivesreflecting entirely different mindsets which define the motivationsdrivingone’s life. Becoming rich may be a motivation propellingone to be a billionaire in the end. But, what’s important is that how one did it, and whether the avenues that were chosen to get to the avowed destination stand up to the benchmarks of transparency, shared responsibility and accountability? These are the barriers that only a miserly few will cross successfully in their pursuit of riches. The vast majority will come crashing down at the first hurdle which defines the crisis that the country and the society are gravely beset with. From one gross controversy to the next, it is a sequence of humiliating revelations which are laid barein broad daylight with hardly a breathing space to ponder. Yet, when everything appears to be lost, it is hope that a vast majority of people in this country still seek and cling to — hope that is locked in the box! So, where is it that we appear to be headed in the midst of a host of shameful and monotonous enactments: Panama case, Dawn leaks, Memogate controversy, rampant corruption bazaar, virtual abdication of governance, politicisation and the consequent liquidation of institutions, lack of transparency regarding undertakings of the state, growing inequity among provinces, ever-widening social, sectarian and religious divides, grave paradoxes and duplicities afflicting the handling of terror and other existential challenges which mostly are of our own making? The list is endless. A common ingredient in all this is that no one, absolutely no one is willing to own responsibility for committing the transgressions when they were in command. Instead, the response to every such insinuation is an all-pervading counter accusation. Well, they tell the truth, but only about others! This exceedingly self-righteous but debilitating narrative reflects yet another, and in certain respects the gravest challenge that the country is faced with: its absolute moral collapse. Why has this come about? How can one cast off the spell? And whether it can be done at all? The integrity of the political oligarchies lacerating profusely, the institution which is looked upon as one that has the constitutional powers, capacity, and on whose shoulders rests the responsibility to extricate the country out of this quagmire, is its justice system. It is no small coincidence that, at this critical juncture, our superior judiciary is beset with a case whose outcome may decide the course that the state will take in the future. Depending on which way the judgement goes, it can either put the country on the path to salvation, or push it down a million-mile pit. Contrary to what many may believe, I am convinced there is no middle course in this. There is no some-of-this and some-of-that solution, or some-for-one-party and some-for-the-other-party therapy. It is a case that requires a judgement based on undiluted merit, and merit has no favourites. But this some-of-this and some-of-that syndrome is also dug in deep. It is rooted in years of misdemeanours perpetrated without any check, without any punishment and, most important of all, without any shame. One has often seen victory signs displayed by alleged criminals coming out of courts. They don’t seem to be concerned in any manner either about the heinous nature of the crime, or their own indisputable culpability therein. The reason is clear: virtually no one in this country has ever been punished for crimes and excesses committed including the one which dismembered the state. Investigation commissions have been formed, they have handed down their reports which were never made public because those who were responsible for the crimes that the commission investigated were also the people swinging the whip. So, no one dared disagree, no one had the courage to stand up for the truth. Incompetent people have ascended seats of authority with the connivance of the very same corrupt mafias to ensure the continuity of a system rendered morbid through systematic afflictions. Then those heading various institutions on occasions have been guilty of serious misdemeanours themselves, but they never tire of proclaiming their virtuous careers and conduct. See, there is more of the same prognosis, more of the same venomous potion: shamelessness! Like I said earlier, where are we headed? Or, are we headed anywhere at all except deeper in the pit of shame and helplessness? Will people, those few who still care and who are saddened by the state of things around, be able to free themselves of the tentacles of mafias that operate with abandon, or will they also resign to this humiliation and let the onslaught of loot and plunder continue denuding the state of its riches, its wealth and, most important of all, its boundless promise, potential and passion? Will we continue drowning in the putrid juices of our own doings without respite, without care? Are we going to triggera move to salvation, or are we going to become aiders and abettors of this apparently irreversible plunge into regression? And what of the hope that people still seek so desperately? Is the time come? Who could have put it better than T S Eliot: ‘O my people, what have I done onto thee.” The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute — an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: @RaoofHasan