Daily Times

At the time of partition on 14 August 1947, Pakistan inherited functional colonial institutions run by competent and honest individuals. Corruption was confined to a very few departments. On the khaki side, offices of Controller Military Accounts (CMA), Maintenance and Engineering Services (MES) and Cantonment Boards (CB) were always corrupt. Till today, it is almost impossible to get a cheque from CMA without paying two percent extortion. While on the civilian side, Pakistan Works Department (PWD) and Police were known to be corrupt.

By and large, corruption was contained in the civilian bureaucracy while it flourished on the Khaki side mainly because the men in uniform were not trained to handle them. The Khakis themselves have always been disciplined and competent in their professional duties but handling the bureaucracy has not been their forte. After every Martial Law, they were thrust into roles for which they had no background or experience.

Since 23 March 1940, when the resolution for Pakistan was passed, till today a lot of water has flown under the bridge. Ground realities remain grim. The dry bed of River Ravi that was once the pride of Lahore narrates a sombre tale. It was not just Ravi — two other rivers (Sutlej, Beas) were also given up. While the Amazon in South America, the Nile in Africa and Rhine in Europe flow unhindered under international laws, our rivers are governed by the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). Why?

The 1973 constitution has clearly defined the boundaries which must be respected to gain freedom from the colonial yoke and the corruption and incompetence that it has produced in the last seven decades

Civilians are best qualified to handle civil matters as khakis are trained to handle theirs; crossovers are disastrous. I remember as a child growing up in Lahore we never crossed the Mian Mir Bridge on the Mall. While the city of Lahore was fully functional, the cantonment on the other side was deserted. The only commercial activity was around Globe Cinema and the few surrounding shops. All commercial flights landed at Walton Airport. I remember presenting a bouquet of flowers to Pandit Nehru when he landed there with his sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in early sixties.

Till the decade of the seventies, most departments were under honest and competent officers. Today, the honest have been rendered incompetent while most competent individuals are corrupt who only operate under the influence of speed money. Educated, reliable and able politicians like Abdul Qayyum Khan, HS Suharwardy and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) had a significant impact on governance as they could get the job done. As Interior Minister in the seventies, Qayyum Khan not only overhauled the passport directorate, he also introduced the National Identity Card (NIC) system very efficiently. At that time, it was a manual arrangement.

In the new millennium, General Pervez Musharraf decided to computerise the NIC system, and it was renamed as NADRA (National Data Registration Authority). An ordinance was issued in the year 2000 which was later converted into a bill. Rs four billion were allocated to the new entity. The president appointed his friend and fellow Artillery officer to head the organisation for which he had no expertise. After squandering Rs 1.2 billion, the authority was unable to issue a single NIC in one year. Finally, a graduate engineer of the EME Corps was brought in who then hired Usman Mobin (current chairman) an IT Expert who had graduated from MIT. Thanks to the professional efforts of the young expert, NADRA is one of the best public data repositories in the region today.

Pakistan started off well. Political leadership consisted of elected individuals who had abilities and vision. The colonial institutions resisted change which they continue to do till today. Manipulated elections have produced third-rate leaders. In the words of Ch Nisar Ali Khan, “Neither good work is appreciated nor bad deeds stopped, it is a mess of historic proportions”.

On 23 March 2018, let us pledge to bring back competent and honest leadership. Both corruption and incompetence have hurt us bad. A credible election is the starting point. Only genuinely elected leaders have served the nation. There have been only two people friendly cabinets, one formed by Quaid-e-Azam in 1947 and the other by Quaid-e-Awam in 1973; rest have been enemies of the state. According to released CIA documents, several of Ayub Khan’s cabinet members were on their payroll. That is why on his visits to the US, General Ayub Khan was greeted at the airport by US Presidents.

Once the elected house is in place, the reformation of institutions has to be initiated. The Cornelius Commission Report can be a good starting point to reform the outdated colonial bureaucracy. Finally, the Khakis have to return to the barracks where they belong and thrive. Defence of the motherland is their prime responsibility.  Their sacrifices in the war on terror are commendable while we salute their efforts in bringing peace to our soil. But their continued involvement in civilian matters is in no one’s interest, it only brings them bad name and stretches their efforts.

The 1973 constitution has clearly defined boundaries including the electoral process which must be followed to gain freedom from colonial yoke and the corruption and incompetence that it has produced in the last seven decades. Civilian sector has to be manned by qualified out of uniform individuals while the ones in battle gear should prepare for external threats. Each to his own domain operating under the ambit of the unanimously agreed 1973 constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is time to appreciate the good work and stop the bad deeds to contain both corruption and incompetence that engulfs us today. Right man for the right job has to be ensured for us to move forward. The journey of Pakistan remains incomplete after seven decades of so existence.

The writer is ex-chairman Pakistan Science Foundation; Email: fmaliks@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, March 26^th 2018.