How to root out corruption

Columnist Riffat Jahan makes a strong case of how to eradicate corruption.

It is almost an annual rite in Sweden that the tax-papers of public figures in general and politicians in particular are minutely examined and widely commented on by the media. All tax related information, including details of property ownership, is well documented and easily accessible to all and sundry.
Authorities are constitutionally bound to provide the copies of official record without any undue delay, whenever requisitioned. More or less each and every official dossier, with the exception of those containing some highly confidential defence related documents or a few categories of sensitive inter-state affairs, is open for public scrutiny over here. On top of it, you are neither required to disclose your identity nor the purpose to order the retrieval of any paper.
For Swedes, openness in tandem with an easy access to official files is the most effective weapon to check corruption in the public sector. Quite simple, transparency and sleaze cannot coexist for long. To be noted, neither “peculiarities” of any political culture nor illiteracy, not even poverty inhibits emulation of this simple modality.
One of the very few praiseworthy steps General Pervez Musharraf took (and has taken so far) after “reluctantly” taking over in Oct 1999 was to declare his and his immediate family members’ assets. Other services’ chiefs along with some of the ministers followed his example in the earlier days of the Musharraf era. Alas, that minor symbolic improvement too completely faded away, like the initial euphoria for the military government, soon afterwards.
For example, have the serving chiefs of NAB, PAF and the navy bothered to declare what they own? May I ask why not? By the way, how could/can Lt. General Maqbool, the former chairman NAB and currently governor of Punjab, the incumbent NAB czar Lt. General Munir Hafiez, talk about corruption and “wealth beyond known sources of income” when we know nothing about their own bank accounts and properties? The silence of these gentlemen, is absolutely unethical if not outright unlawful, and inevitably raises many unpleasant questions. Presumably, it is not in the “larger national interests” to verify for untamed civilians, time and again, the extent of richness military service offers to its senior officers.
Well, the least one could demand or expect of a set-up, whose only justification to exist is/was a pledge to root out corruption and pull the state out of morass, is openness and level playing field. The logical follow up was to make that practice legally mandatory with a complement that all high-ranking officials, civil and military alike, have to publicly declare their assets every year. So that ordinary mortals as well as monitoring mechanism(s) can keep the track of their wealth graph during their service tenure and beyond. Further on, straightaway termination of the service should have been the minimum penalty for anyone misreporting in that regard and/or whenever one fails to justify a questionable increment in his/her inventory.
Those who took over with the avowed aim to root out corruption shouldn’t be mired in dubious activities. Or at the least must not sanctify the political prostitution, no matter what may come. Starting from the extremely selective accountability enroute to the nonsensical referendum, and finally because of the so-called pragmatism, the public reverence for the army has almost totally vanished, tragically plummeting to all time low. Hence, the military is the lowest ebb of its popularity today, by any measure.
The last thing a regime already devoid of legitimacy can afford is to be perceived directly/indirectly harbouring or endorsing graft. Barring customary firepower, what else the GHQ is left with today after having lost its moral high ground and the reputation of being honest? There is no way out, the army must clear its ranks and files of corruption. Military personnel, politicians, bureaucrats all must be held accountable for their (mis)deeds irrespective of their ranks and affiliations.
In the absence of an independent, non-discriminating set-up netting even armed forces and like-minded pirates (sorry patriots) and amidst unprecedented mockery of the Constitution, claims about combating corruption, introducing good governance and setting honest traditions in government affairs are nothing but an affront to our collective intelligence. Impartial accountability and justice must be seen to being done to all concerned for the credibility of the system. How long can you delude people with mere slogans?
Political corruption has elevated to previously unknown levels, nowadays badly camouflaged under awkward nomenclature. This is all being done with the active collusion of so-called messiahs. Thus, without any prejudice, it wouldn’t be erroneous to conclude that the so-called accountability drive initiated by Mr Musharraf is/was just a blackmailing tool fully lacking sincerity and/or intention to do something meaningful to combat the deep rooted menace of corruption in the society. It was a sordid spoof merely meant to dupe the masses.
Musharraf has said time and again that the changes initiated by his military government are irrevocable despite the fact that there is no legal arrangement around to make them irreversible. Interestingly, on the other hand he is powerless (or unwilling) to make the petty transformation regarding declaration of assets of bigwigs stick? Probably, this practice will make many more angels naked than he can afford. Anyhow, I hope that Musharraf & Co will take care of this discrepancy and soon we will get to read some amazing disclosures.
Moreover, its time to realize and admit that huge overheads for the top brass are little more than a state-sponsored corruption — at the cost of dying children and suffering citizens. Licence to make merry with state resources is gross misuse of the authority, even if it technically lies within one’s “domain and competence”.
These expenditures must be slashed to reasonable standards in proportion to country’s resources. It is sheer cruelty to allow these extravaganzas continue anymore. In accordance with ethics and the needs of a poor country, this trend has to be curtailed. By the way, don’t they feel shame to ride limousines from their palatial mansions to their respective grand offices to “negotiate” with lending institutions and/or to beg from donor agencies?

PS.
Please, rest assured the omission of shamelessness of the like-minded patriotic politicians and their bottomless immorality in this write-up is not due to some intellectual bias or analytical blind-spots. Rather, due to a simple fact that army in general and Musharraf in person are unerringly responsible for the dirty games being played. The ultimate responsibility squarely lies with the khakis. Therefore, it would be a superfluous endeavour to bash the puppets as long as military remains in the driver seat. Secondly, those who professed to eradicate financial and political corruption are so deeply marred by it now that commenting on more than one aspect at a time would have inflated this piece to the dimensions far beyond the space that has been allowed to me.