Observations raised by the Supreme Court over disappointing state of governance amid the pandemic have exposed the reality of fancy claims made by the federal and provincial governments. Those present in the court room were shocked once the honorable judge of the apex court revealed that hospitals in Lahore had taken bribe for placing the patients in quarantine and even for handing over of bodies to the grieved families. While expressing concerns over the absence of consensus based policy, the Supreme Court has instructed the center and provinces to fill up this gap with in a week time. Transparency in bulk purchases of medical equipment and protective gears was also questioned at that time. The lengthy text of hearing reported in the media is nothing less than a serious charge sheet against the ruling elite and rusty bureaucracy. The governance failure becomes more horrifying when it is felt by the masses that even the apex court cannot act against the perpetrators other than raising query or passing bitter remarks. Medics, being front line soldiers, were pushed in the battlefield without the PPE. The comparison of our low number of infected cases with heavily affected countries may not be appropriate, as the testing frequency is still below the desired level. Reports regarding variation in test results further compromise the authenticity of official statistics. Few weeks back, pilgrims declared negative at Taftan border were later declared positive in Multan.
Politics on the matter of lockdown between Sindh and Centre once again has exposed the wrong priorities being pursued by the major ruling parties. The absence of consensus is badly damaging the overall impact of national effort against deadly pandemic. An unprecedented good step of cash disbursement to needy families became a point of contention between the government and the opposition. Inefficient officials could not even ensure proper social distancing at distribution centers. After the lapse of more than forty days, clarity is missing on the issue of lockdown. The closure of routine businesses is adding to the anxiety of common citizens with every passing moment. While the country is under lockdown, the prime minister thinks that discredit of this tough step should be attributed to the elite. Interestingly, spokespersons of the ruling party are busy claiming the credit of that lockdown, which, as per the PM, has been implemented countrywide against his wishes.
The Supreme Court has given a timely wakeup call to all quarters
Private charity organizations are working tirelessly to help the needy quarters in these hard times and rightly deserve nation’s appreciation. It was a shocking disclosure for the nation that Rs3.76 billion has been misappropriated out of Zakat fund. Money collected by the government under the head of Zakat can only be spent on needy people strictly as per the teachings of Islam. Unlike other embezzlements in governmental offices, misappropriation of this obligatory religious fund has caused enormous dissatisfaction especially among those who had contributed to the government kitty meant for Zakat. The war of words between the PPP and the PTI is causing more disappointment in masses as both the rival parties are ruling the Sind and rest of the country respectively.
The ruling quarters have failed in giving a much needed healing touch to the common people suffering due to deep-rooted governance failure. Extra ordinary economic, administrative and socio-religious challenges posed by the pandemic cannot only be dealt with hollow verbosity. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, unfortunately, the ruling elite has proved dumb on account of performance but getting unduly louder in making false over exaggerated claims. The federal government has mysteriously ignored the constitutional body of the CCI to address the genuine grievances of provinces. State affairs and relief work, undertaken out of national exchequer, should be kept free of political affiliations and biases. Unfortunately, recent stances taken by political leadership, during testing times of pandemic, have widened the gulf at national level. Political divide in this crisis is detrimental to swift and flawless relief work. Petty differences should not hinder consensus on the matters of public safety and state security. It is once again proved that our ways of governance are flawed and ill- intended. This rotten system is tuned to hinder the relief, good governance and swift justice.
The Supreme Court has given a timely wakeup call to all quarters. Unbiased realization of situation and expeditious damage control measures are required to put the house in order. Whimsical approach in decision making needs to be substituted with consensus based policy formulation emerging out of quality consultancy. Precarious situation at eastern borders due to frequent Indian aggressions on either sides of LoC and unrest across western borders amid deadlock in Afghan peace process can only be dealt with an internally stable and unified Pakistan.
Political leadership bears a greater responsibility to keep the temperature cool. Firebrand spokespersons, being undesired elements, should be immediately silenced by respective parties prior to pursuing hardcore nationalistic agenda. Federal government must take a lead in uniting the stakeholders by setting the agenda for an emergent meeting of CCI where all grievances of the federating units should be discussed threadbare. The Supreme Court has rightly pointed out that the house is in disorder! Expeditious damage control measures must be enforced to improve the governance and curb the polarization.
The writer is a freelance and can be reached at [email protected]