Some believed it was social media. Others highlighted nepotism and fake degrees.
KARACHI: Representing those who have the power to change the future of the country, the students at Ziauddin University attended the ‘Youth, Leadership and Integrity’ dialogue organised by the varsity with the help of Transparency International (TI), Pakistan.
What was also striking was the response of the audience to questions by university student affairs director Raza Abbas about the source of corruption for the youth of Pakistan. Some believed it was social media. Others highlighted nepotism and fake degrees. They all, however, agreed that corruption was rooted in ourselves. “It is us who support it.”
As a quotation by French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte — ‘A leader is a dealer in hope’ — flashed onto the projector screen, those present engaged in discussions about leadership and corruption, with videos shown to provide further talking points.
“We are aiming to hold activities like this in universities across Pakistan to create a dialogue about anti-corruption and to find out about the youth’s perspective about it,” explained TI Pakistan’s Zunaira Shams. The organisation held its first dialogue on the subject at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
TI’s advocacy and legal advice centres help the victims and witnesses of corruption handle these dishonest activities through free confidential consultations. Meanwhile, their youth integrity survey aims to understand and spread awareness about the youth’s opinions and reactions to corruption within the system so that they can hold themselves accountable when they themselves are exposed to it.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2015.
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