Petition: Anti-corruption drive gets 11,000 signatures

In 2010, TIP found Pakistan to have slipped from 42nd most corrupt state in 2009 to 34th in 2010

As anti-corruption sentiments grip the country, more than 11,000 residents of Islamabad signed a 12x16 feet ‘Istehkam-e-Pakistan Referendum’ register over two weeks to voice their concern against endemic corruption, said a press release issued on Wednesday.

The referendum, among other demands, asks top political officers to resign for failing to curb corruption.

The drive was launched two weeks back by Khawaja Khalil Salar, an Islamabad-based educationist and social worker.

The drive aims to collect 500,000 signatures from the twin cities before embarking on a countrywide register-signing campaign which will end at Quaid-i-Azam’s mausoleum in Karachi.

Salar said he had decided to battle corruption the incumbent government’s failure to root out the menace.

In 2010, Transparency International Pakistan found Pakistan to have slipped from 42nd most corrupt state in 2009 to 34th in 2010, said the press release.

The register has been on display in various areas of Islamabad, including Sector G-9 Markaz, Sitara Market in G-7, F-8 Markaz, Sector H-9, I-8/1 and I-9.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2011.