Daily Times

Malik Riaz Hussain is one of those people who has a reputation of getting what they want in the end by any means possible. Should he be called a business tycoon or a land grabber? This is a question that’s on the mind of countless people across the country whom he duped in the name of development.

Bahria Town Karachi was litmus test case for the judiciary and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). But alas, the land grabber’s whims and wishes succeeded in the end when a settlement of roughly $3.2 billion was agreed upon without having him being sent to prison. The Supreme Court also prevented NAB from filing references against his firm’s officials. Approximately 17,000 acres of illegally acquired land would remain under his domain, and now no one would dare to counter him.

People like Riaz have deep pockets and the system is rotten to the core owing to a weak legislative and legal system. Whether it’s government officials, the accountability bodies or the media; everyone is under his hypnotic influence who act subserviently to his cause. Remember the infamous media-gate from June 2012?

While he gets away, the poor have the bear the brunt in the end whose land he plundered upon with impunity for years. Stories of thuggish behaviour are widely known but hardly anyone questioned relevant authorities. Even sections of NAB deliberately delayed or misled the accountability process against Bahria Town, reportedly owing to briberies and a sense of fear. While they can’t be entirely blamed since it’s system which is infected with a viral disease that refuses to die down.

Just like a virus infects a computer’s operating system, the legal system is infected by malpractices which cause corruption to prevail. Malik Riaz is part of this viral process which requires urgent handling.

Paying $3.2 billion, even in small amounts, may be a piece of cake for him but what about the impoverished whom he looted? Or those people who were evicted from their homes and shops since they were residing in ‘illegal’ colonies but couldn’t afford to pay back to secure themselves? Why such a stark difference in rule of law? Puff pieces in the media, heavy investments in advertisement or acting holier than thou by doing charity won’t save people like Riaz who would have to answer for their criminal behaviour one day. The time is now to uproot and reform the system’s state of affairs. *

Published in Daily Times, March 25^th 2019.