Daily Times

Deeply imbedded in our body
politic, corruption has taken strong roots. Transparency International (TI) in 1996 rated Pakistan as the second most corrupt country in the world. We have only gone up the tier because other countries are more corrupt than us. While this process of decay can never be eradicated completely from any society, in Pakistan it has become endemic and an integral part of our lives. Other than the lack of interaction between specialised bodies for combating corruption and the citizens, the contributing factors are the near ‘royal’ prerogatives of a mostly inefficient bureaucracy, compounded by corruption being institutionalised and lack of political will to combat it, weak legislation etc. Abject failure to evolve a meaningful and comprehensive counter-corruption strategy remains. Very little resolution has been shown by successive governments to curb this menace. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cannot touch the elite, treating corruption incidents as fait accompli or mostly employing its available legal apparatus and powers thereof on a selective basis.
Corruption continues to fuel organised crime and its strong unholy nexus with terrorism. Only organised crime can deliver huge sums derived from corrupt dealings into major bank centres or real estate in offshore havens. Corruption surged to new levels after the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) by Musharraf institutionalised it. This led to our misfortune of being ruled in the last decade by the most corrupt rulers in the history of Pakistan. Consider the national psyche that continues to tolerate this incongruity!
Zardari’s years saw a rapid decline in the political order as well as deteriorating economic conditions as expanding underground economies combined to create conditions for profitable and unlawful activity in Pakistan. No organisation in Pakistan today can effectively fight large-scale organised crime. Consider the criminal gangs in the city of Karachi hell bent on creating chaos to further their own evil objectives with some political parties becoming enterprises supporting all shades of criminals. Having access to vast financial resources organised criminal groups run a parallel black economy. Corruption has become an existential threat to the nation. While we may survive being taken over by terrorists because of the recent ‘constitutional activism’ by the Pakistan army, accepted as law of the land by the Supreme Court (SC) legitimising military courts under the much maligned doctrine of necessity, we are very much still in danger of continuing to be ruled over by criminals ‘committed to democracy’ in the name of the Constitution.
The electronic and print media are meant to exercise accountability, primed to unleash a constant barrage exposing facts about corruption and the corrupt. Unfortunately, the credibility of fair-minded, objective reporting and analysis is in tatters because of the influence of power and black money. Most of this media will never allow adverse facts to appear against those entities that are paying huge amounts for their advertisements and/or subverting the integrity of editors/anchors/media owners on a client-patron relationship. This consistent lack of media accountability means that those who really matter in corruption can almost never be netted, lack of accountability allowing corruption to flourish unfettered.
Converting dirty money into clean money by going around the legal financial system is money laundering in layman’s words. This facilitates the corrupt who use organised crime to further their aims through fronts (business establishments, welfare organisations, media houses etc). Connections and money buy influence in media outlets by defaming those conducting accountability while themselves pontificating about the many “ills” that bedevil our society. Information is invariably manipulated to defame the law enforcement agencies and thus deter them. Using constitutional cover and crying “democracy”, many of the major players openly thumb their noses at our weak legal system. Some of our media persons own palatial apartments abroad worth millions of dollars. How did they come by such wealth? A simple probe into a suspect’s assets and wealth within the country and abroad can ascertain whether it matches the individual’s known means of income. Was any income tax paid and, if it was, was it anywhere near the amount actually due? Partners in crime at the highest reaches of government have their own vested interests and only a handful of the guilty have been apprehended by law enforcers.
Is targetting the known corrupt in the media too much to ask of those who happen to govern our destiny today? Those suspected of being guilty of corruption, money laundering or any other criminal activity must be put on the Exit Control List (ECL). Had those who have managed safe exit still been in Pakistan, they could have been held accountable. We must review and strengthen our laws to nab and convict the corrupt, whoever and wherever they may be. If someone has used his/her office for material gain, he is a crook, pure and simple, gift of the gab notwithstanding. Except for the extreme necessities of national security, everything and everyone should be open for detailed public scrutiny. There must also be criteria about accountability conducted by all law enforcement agencies; only then can the performance of these organisations be further improved.
Because the nexus between perennial corruption in Pakistan and organised crime feeds terrorism, our priority should be to target corruption with all its manifestations, including financial misdoings, misuse of authority, cheating the public at large, money laundering, living beyond legitimate known means of income, tax evasion etc. Those who facilitate corruption and money laundering must be made examples of and sent to rot in jail along with their associates.

The writer is a defence analyst and security expert