Daily Times

Earlier this month, the special assistant to the Chief Minister Punjab on Information and Culture created a ruckus when she visited a Ramzan bazar in Sialkot. Firdous Ashiq Awan was caught on camera publicly admonishing Assistant Commissioner Sialkot Sonia Sadaf over over the standard of produce being sold.

The video went viral and many politicians came out in support of the AC and demanded that Firdous apologise for publicly humiliating a competent and professional woman who also happens to be extremely well-educated. Naturally, the opposition PMLN was quick to side with Sadaf against the ruling PTI’s Firdous. But, so too, was Chief Secretary Punjab Jawad Rafique Malik. Elsewhere, the country’s entire bureaucracy, including Civil Services Academy, have called Firdous to apologise.

Civil servants are integral components of the state and run all administrative mechanisms.. During their training at the Civil Services Academy, officers are taught discipline and loyalty to the state and the country — not to politicians — above all else. In fact, they are instructed to ignore all political pressure and focus exclusively on following the rule of law. However, it seems that our parliamentarians still do not understand this and think that civil servants are there to provide undue protocols and to refrain from hindering unconstitutional misconduct.

Firdous’ public outburst had nothing to do with the Ramzan market. Rather, it was linked to Sadaf taking serious notice of a blackmarket racket headed by one of the politician’s relatives invoking seized trucks containing smuggled goods

Yet here is where the story takes an interesting turn. Sources close to the AC told this scribe that Firdous’ public outburst had nothing to do with the Ramzan market. Rather, it was linked to Sonia Sadaf taking serious notice of a blackmarket racket headed by one of the politician’s relatives invoking seized trucks containing smuggled goods. The steely-nerved offer refused to turn a blind eye to the incident, despite tremendous pressure from both the Punjab government and Firdous herself. (This scribe contacted the politician on several occasions whilst conveying the nature of the allegations against her. Each time, she declined to comment.) However, the special adviser to the CM has since admitted that the language used in her rebuke was not appropriate. Thus, if the holy month of Ramzan is a time for self-reflection and forgiveness — nothing exemplifies this more, perhaps, than Firdous’ apology.

The debacle soon gave way to a broader debate on the role of civil servants in Pakistan. On the one hand, we have law abiding officers like Sadaf who refuse to kowtow to political pressure. On the other, we have officers who follow the government’s orders even if these are in contempt of court; as was recently seen when PMLN Vice President and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif was barred from leaving the country despite the Lahore High Court (LHC) granting him permission to do so. Another difference is that the latter did not launch a tirade against the officer in question.

When a state is held hostage to such caprices development is impeded. For the rule of law must reign paramount if governments and social welfare societies are to be strengthened. Prime Minister Imran Khan likes to say that no one knows the law-abiding western world better than he. I wonder why he seems to think that Pakistan deserves less. Such hypocrisy will never bode well for this country. Especially since no one knows the law and the Constitution better than our honourable courts. Thus, the decision of the courts must be upheld by both government and opposition alike. There should be no comment on court verdicts; this is what appeal mechanisms are for.

The political office bearers of the country cannot make a team of diligent and dedicated officers as long as civil servants are publicly humiliated and chided. This lesson was not learned during Shehbaz Sharif’s last stint as CM Punjab. He used to used to verbally mistreat officers, too. But this culture of indecent governance needs to stop in the name of the national interest. After all, politicians ought to act as role models and lead by example. Although this was something that Imran Khan failed to understand his 126-day sit-in as part of the politics of agitation when PTI was part of the opposition and called for large-scale civil disobedience. Let us give that this dangerous precedent can be reversed.

The writer is author of several books, a columnist and political analyst based in Islamabad. He can be reached at naveedamankhan@hotmail.com and tweets@NaveedAmanKhan3