Corruption is deep rooted in
every sphere of life in Pakistan. There is hardly any institution/organisation, be it civil, military, religious, social, financial or political that is free from the menace of corruption. It is so instinctive in the system now that all of us, including the rulers and the masses, have made this evil a part of our lives. It has become all-encompassing and entered every field of life, where people believe corrupt practices and misuse of authority is their right.
There is frustration among people; they want a corruption-free society. Preventive measures are taken from time to time to eradicate the menace but still there is no significant success to tackle this big dilemma due to lack of awareness among the masses at the grassroots level. The scene is ominous, arcane, and beyond control. However, if you watch TV shows or read newspapers, news anchors, columnists, politicians and people from other walks of life talk loudly about anti-corruption measures, strict laws against corruption and for deterrence. The menace of corruption is condemned categorically, but then, there is nothing visible. People forget things, their enthusiasm and patriotism becomes murky, and things start happening in the same way.
When you talk about a preventive measure against corruption in Pakistan, anti-corruption organisations like ACE, FIA and finally, NAB come to mind. There is criticism of the anti-corruption organisations for this evil in society. Although these institutions are working to finish corruption, it persists, and thus people start flaying them. People should be aware, however, that there is no quick fix for fighting corruption, especially without improving the human resource capacity of various anti-corruption establishments. It will take time to eradicate the problem, which has penetrated our society for the last one and a half century.
It is being practiced in different forms. The corruption landscape has increased hundreds, thousands fold. It was practiced in the form of nazranas during the Mughal period in the subcontinent, and now some innovative words like ‘gift’ or ‘donation’ is used for it. Politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen take bribes without considering it a crime. If you study closely this malevolence process, the standard of the bribe differs from person to person, depending upon demographic factors like age, sex, location, the status of the person, family background, inclinations and much more.
It is amusing and at the same time shocking to see that ‘corrupt’ persons come on TV and act holy. They take bribes, then talk about high moral standards and urge people from public platforms to follow the principles of great leaders.
All over the world, anti-corruption organisations are working to remove the malaise, and the same is the case with Pakistan. Our anti-corruption agencies, especially the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the apex anti-corruption organisation in the country, is trying to remove corruption but with limited resources. It is worth mentioning here that the agency is tackling hundreds of thousands of cases despite shortage of human resources, and trying to catch all the big fish. A glance at NAB’s annual report 2011 shows the induction of a new strategy. The report says: “NAB is undergoing a process of revival and rejuvenation by enhancing both the quantity and quality of manpower and re-thinking its operational strategy. In contrast with NAB’s historic focus on enforcement, the bureau is preparing to adopt a new outlook and strategic approach for attempting to prevent corruption rather than purely enforcement after the crime. During the year 2011, despite the constraints it faced, the bureau processed 6,583 complaints, completed 155 inquiries, filed 71 references in the courts and recovered an amount of Rs 902 million through Voluntary Return and Plea Bargain.”
It is refreshing to note that the bureau is going to focus on prevention rather than only on enforcement. The idea is to build firewalls within the regulatory framework to reduce the incidence of corruption. The menace of corruption can be eradicated if it succeeds in its new strategic approach.
The scope of corruption is wide in society. Even in an ideal situation, under the best form of government, one cannot claim that corruption can be completely finished — it would persist. Sometimes, people become corrupt due to a fear of losing power. Commenting on corruption, Aung San Suu Kyi in her book Freedom from Fear writes, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” Government alone cannot eliminate the menace of corruption; this can only be done with the help of the masses. For this purpose, people themselves will have to come forward to end the evil of corruption from our beloved country, and the most suitable weapon to fight it is the power of the vote.
The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at [email protected]