Saviours of corruption

SOS. Save our Souls, No. Rather, Sell our Souls. That is the current status of the horse and cattle show in the Senate. This show will may be over in a few days but what it means and what it reflects is frighteningly enduring. The videos of repulsion rarely seen in C movie thrillers. Negotiations of the most disgusting type. Smooth talks that are revolting. Mockery that is cruel. This blatant display of auctioning your conscience and prostituting your dignity is not political seduction but political rape of humanity itself. The fact that such markets of soul selling are nothing new is understandable. The fact that they have reached this level of lowness is painful. But perhaps the most horrific is the “matter of factness” of the so-called intellectual and ideological class that is unacceptable and condonable if not punishable.

Politics is a game of thrones at all costs. It is a game of buying at whatever price. It is a game of selling to the highest bidder. It is a game of power addiction. It is a game of blackmail, mudslinging and murder. Pakistan has had the misfortune of being a host to all of this for decades. Seats of power are bought and sold with bags and stacks. These seats of power give access to land, business and black money. This black money is then used to blacken hearts and souls of people to create a cult of money worshippers whose only divine power is the cash/kind loot sale hidden in or out of the country.

Yes politics all over is a cut-throat business. Yes politics is about win-lose everywhere. But in the more developed and democratic setups the saner voice and rules pose enough threat to the unbridled growth of this black horror. Why has these voices gone missing in Pakistan? Why has this tradition of soul destruction gone unchecked? It is not just because of the obvious political greed of politicians but the unobvious protectors of corruption that make it difficult for the unpolluted voices to penetrate this layer upon layer of filth and stink. Let us examine these so-called warriors and saviours of corruption:

1. The “Learned” Intellectual- These noble saviours of corruption are experts at proving “calmly” and “almost” factually why the corrupt are not “really” corrupt. This class is highly educated, has written books of sorts, are columnists, have taught and lectured in universities and often give opinions in international and local media. They follow their “Haqqani” role model. Not the Afghan Taliban Haqqani but the American Taliban Hussain Haqqani. He is their ideal. Haqqani’s prolific writing and speaking makes him a regular CNN and other media darling. He would appear for and against any Pakistani government that does not endow him with big posts and perks. From PMLN to PPP, his life’s mission is to sing every tune that provides the max of max. Such learned intellectuals many times teaching in US institutes or working in think tanks give opinion on Pakistani politics painting Imran Khan as the failing idiot and PDM as the mature politicians’ hub. For years they were the “liberal” unbiased, politically victimized lot ready to take refuge in local and foreign financial solace. Then happened the EU DisInformationLab. This revealed networks like SAATH that were sponsored by India to use amongst others Pakistani intellectuals against Pakistan.

2. The Ideologues- Then there are the ideological members of Civil Society and NGOs, etc. These are in the activists’ cadre. Again, they are well educated, vocal and opinion makers. They pretend to be non-political. Their not so hidden loyalties to political parties are never owned up. They are champions of democracy. They would cut to size Imran Khan’s comments on nabbing the corrupt as dictatorial and non-democratic but would dismiss the billions of rupees of unaccounted money of Opposition leaders as none of their business.

3. The Legalites- These are the legal wizards. They save the corrupt by their absolute “aghastness” at the constitution not being followed. Classic is the case of the Panama Leaks. They are still ruing the fact that disqualifying Nawaz Sharif on an undeclared money gained from an unknown company in Dubai for a small amount was illegally legal. They would write articles on hospital heads being removed who had operated upon their own relatives with expertise. When asked why these hospitals were using 20 billion taxpayer funds for machinery that cost Rs 4 billion, they would call this “victimization”. The fact that these very legal counsel were paid heavy fee from taxpayers’ money by the previous governments for personal cases, of course, does not fall in their “contract jurisdiction”.

4. The holy experts- These are the worthy analysts who are the movers and shakers of the media world. They follow and create trends. Of course they are totally unbiased. They will enumerate their struggle for democracy yet would gladly support dynasties. They have a number of coverups. Sometimes it is for the sake of democracy, sometimes for human rights and sometimes for freedom of expression. They sit in ‘Chat shows’ and predict everything. They pretend to be the holier than thou know-alls. They will criticize all till they are silenced by high position offers. Some are given ministries in Azad Kashmir, some are given Senate seats, some made the head of PCB, some of PTV, others of Pemra, of PHA, etc. Their masks slip from time to time.

These are the ‘soldiers’ who are fighting for the rights of the corrupt. All you have to do is to look at their stance on any issue. If an injustice has been done by the PMLN and PPP, etc., silence is gold for them. So much for their human rights. In the most repulsive incident in the most do or die battle for our medical staff in Corona, the children of the ex-Sindh governor blatantly cheated frontline workers to get themselves vaccinated in Sindh, there was such silence on their social media that it was unbelievable. They are few but they have the power of distorting the truth through their status, voice and knowledge. It is these “learned men/women” who support and sustain the game of corrupt thrones and dynasties.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021