Speakers at a seminar on 'saving an ailing state from the cancer of corruption' said that the Panama Leaks issue should not be left hanging and subjected to the culture of impunity of those in power. The seminar was organised by Pakistan Women's Foundation for Peace (PWFFP) at a hotel, here on Friday. The speakers called for stringent action against all those who are promoting corruption and compromising the vital interests of the state of Pakistan.
Former justice Shaiq Usmani demanded creation of mechanisms that would not succumb to pressure and have a strong, legal and constitutional base. "We want across the board accountability," he added. Munawar Saeed lauded the role of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif for launching an operation cleanup against corruption within his own institution.
He said that the government had lost moral ground to rule after revelations in the Panama Leaks. "We should teach lessons of morality at our homes to eradicate the menace of corruption," he added. PWFFP Chairperson Nargis Rehman said that the ordinary people of Pakistan were consistently exploited and trampled by a handful of power hungry usurpers. "We do not only have the right to vote, but also the right to challenge wrong doing, and our reluctance to exercise this right," she said.
"Through our silence and inertia, people have become complicit to the wrongs we decry. Corruption flourishes, is endemic and entrenched because we have never individually or collectively or consistently fought against it. Thus we suffer indignity, mockery, abuse, at the consistently low corruption index rating, and remain a humiliated entity in all international forums," she underlined. Nargis was of the view that the country's economy had suffered the most that had led to increase in poverty. "Pakistan is on a positive map is because of services provided by people like Dr Adeeb Rizvi, Abdul Sattar Edhi and a host of other service providers and NGOs," she concluded.