No nation can progress without dispensing justice and ensuring transparency, accountability and participation of masses in affairs of governance. These principles are universally accepted. The fundamental feature of modern day state is its ability to levy taxes on the rich and spending it on public welfare.
In any democratic polity, it is the sacred duty of the rulers to refrain from wasting taxpayers' money. In civilised societies, rulers show great constraints by not taking a penny more than what is necessary to meet bare minimum needs of life. In a democratic set-up, the rulers and officials cannot even think of utilising money lying in national treasury for personal benefit. When rulers deviate from this principle, their rule gets infected with maladministration, injustice, tyranny and anarchy.
They face unpopularity and revolt. But if people endure such rulers, they also invite extinction or subjugation. This is the truth of history. No nation can survive without justice -in the broader terminology it covers everything related to balance of life. Every imbalance is injustice, anti-thesis of justice. The message is unambiguous: Life both at individual and collective level, must be based on justice, accountability, rule of law, equality and fairness ensuring peace for all.
Lack of justice and accountability, unprecedented tolerance towards corruption, disrespect for the rule of law and unwillingness of the rich and mighty to contribute for the welfare of the poor are among the main reasons for failure of democratisation of Pakistan-a state now captive in the hands of a few enjoying power and wealth, busy in amassing money through unlawful means and shifting it to tax havens. The corrupt - it includes generals, bureaucrats, politicians and traders-having billions of dollars (untaxed in Pakistan) lying outside are claiming to be the saviour!
Democratisation of society is not possible without a credible system of accountability that works across the board having no sacred cows like the judiciary and army in our country. If mighty segments of society - mullah, politicians, high-ranking government officials, judges and traders - having enormous wealth and incomes are not filing income tax/wealth tax declarations, then how can democratic dispensation, transparency and rule of law be established?
People have no access to asset/tax declarations of the rich and mighty to examine the bona fide of sources resulting into enormous wealth and incomes. While exercising their right to vote, this vital information should be available to them. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) must publish directory of taxpayers annually.
People ask why Pakistan has been victim of instability, unrest, corruption, fiscal crimes, tax evasion, plundering and wasting of taxpayers' money. The answer is simple. There is no justice system and rule of law. Society as a whole protects the plunderer and corrupt. The crooks rule and the innocent are denied justice. The poor get no share in the national wealth and lack say in policymaking and legislative work.
No effort has ever been made by successive governments - military and civilian alike - to determine the loss to national exchequer due to corruption. Since the rulers are the beneficiaries of rent-seeking, it is obvious they will never crackdown on organised criminal mafias that feed them. How we can check corruption and recoup the plundered wealth of the nation in this bleak scenario.
The answer is collective effort at massive level. The progressive forces must unite and go to masses, expose the exploitation of ruling classes, raise the consciousness of ordinary people, forge the unity of landless tillers, industrial workers and make female farm workers part of their movement.
The unholy alliance of military-mullah-bazar is seldom discussed and exposed in our society. The corrupt politicians get enormous funds from traders-who are supported by mullahs for all kinds of exploitation in the name of tijarat. The all-pervasive corruption and rampant tax evasion, coupled with unprecedented tolerance towards black money, have made Pakistan a state where the very survival of public institutions is at stake at the hands of ruthless forces representing money power.
The money power corrupts and controls all state institutions. It buys officials, clergy and judges. The organised criminal gangs -land grabbers, so-called Jihadists, narcotic dealers, human traffickers, smugglers etc-are undermining the writ of the government and challenging all forces that refuse to accept their illegal acts.
The state is now controlled by the corrupt and plunderers of national wealth. There state-sponsorship of corruption and deliberate tolerance towards financial malpractices in Pakistan is an undeniable reality. Instead of cracking down on these forces, the governments have been announcing tax amnesty and money-whitening schemes for them.
The worst consequences of such a policy of appeasement are its pernicious effect on the general moral fabric of society. Such policies put integrity at a discount and place a premium on vulgar and ostentatious display of power and wealth. This shatters the faith of the common man with respect to the dignity of honest labour and virtuous living.
Democratic rule embodies some essential elements that are: fair and just electoral process, sovereignty of parliament, separation of powers, and independence of judiciary, public accountability and rule of law, socio-economic justice and redistribution of wealth in favour of the poor.
Our ruling elite-indomitable civil, military bureaucracy, corrupt politicians and greedy businessmen-wants money as well as power. It wants laws that protect their ill-gotten wealth as well as crimes against masses. A dangerous result of protecting the corrupt is that in our society, rights have become privileges and privileges have become rights. The public has a right to services like housing, education, health, transport, but the system behaves as if these are privileges.
The rulers give an impression that providing of essential service to masses is great favour on their part whereas it is their duty. The public servant is duty-bound to serve the public - instead he behaves as if it is most inconvenient to do so. Most people, working for the state, are no longer interested in performing their jobs, but in finding ways to extract a premium from the helpless citizens.
Tragically, it has become a free for all society, and laws that have been promulgated to check rent-seeking, lawlessness and unfairness fall by the wayside. The general attitude is of helpless resignation, an acceptance of the defeatist principle that if one is to survive, one must become part of the game.
As a result, the whole system is getting dangerously akin to the law of the jungle where the fittest survive, the weak are subjugated, and the predators rule. The darker side of the picture is that the persons, who are capable of checking this distortion, the politicians, judges and bureaucrats, are unlikely to oblige: for it would sever their financial lifelines.
Obviously, if the system is not to sink into greater and greater chaos, corrective action must be taken without any further loss of time. And the starting point is the clear recognition of the role of judiciary, media and civil society. They should devote their efforts and energies to compel the government, legislators and executive to enforce the laws that protect the public from cheats and racketeers rather than reinforcing the system, which encourages them.
We require a change in the system and people that restrain the ballooning state proclaiming this unpalatable truth, and sets standards for the rest of the citizens. As a starting point, the income tax declarations of all holders of public office, judges, and high-ranking military and civil officials should be made public as soon as possible. This will pave the way for system of democratic governance that entails justice, economic equality, social evenness, accountability and transparency.
(The writers, tax lawyers, are adjunct professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Comments
Comments are closed.