Corruption stripped naked

NAB on May 6 did arrested the finance secretary of Balochistan, Mushtaq Raisani, on a charge of corruption

It is easy enough to allege corruption in Pakistan, but altogether a different thing to physically expose it to public gaze, to pull aside the curtain and show it across virtually every TV channel broadcasting in prime time. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on May 6 did just that and arrested the finance secretary of Balochistan, Mushtaq Raisani, on a charge of corruption. It was not difficult to see why. Bags of money, bonds and foreign currency, were found in his house to the value of Rs730 million along with another Rs40 million worth of jewellery. NAB officials were shown using bank teller machines to count the piles of cash, and any attempt to explain how this money was honestly acquired has to be viewed with profound suspicion. We may assume that Mr Raisani was not alone in the alleged misappropriation of monies.



On the same day in Karachi, an accountability court indicted a former minister for petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain, and five others alleging corruption to the tune of Rs462 billion. There were no bags of money on display to back up the allegations, but it must be assumed that NAB would not make such an allegation on a mere whim.

The two cases are very different, the one in Karachi notable for its breadth and sophistication, the other in Balochistan breathtaking in the naivete behind the stashing of millions of rupees in bags in the alleged perpetrator’s own home. A common linkage is the seniority of government servants said to have committed these criminal acts. These are not the minnows, these are Big Beasts used to having their way, cruising in a sea of impunity. Immune from investigation so they thought — but in the case of Mr Raisani, NAB says it has had him under surveillance for three years, and the case against Dr Hussain will need to be similarly copper-bottomed. The good news is that NAB, by its own admission an imperfect organisation, can and does deliver the goods. We now need to see a fair, transparent public trial of those accused, the evidence presented, and if found guilty, the culprits must be punished to the full extent of the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2016.

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