We have to pay ‘naka’ or a fee whenever we have to deal with any state institution — even the courts.
MONTREAL: This is apropos Kamal Siddiqi’s article of February 3 “Outside the box”. The writer is right when he states that setting up ‘nakabandis’ does not check crime. But it does what it is supposed to do: it enables state functionaries to use their position and power to extract money from the hapless citizens .
Nakabandi, in an extended sense, is a universal feature of our state culture. We have to pay ‘naka’ or a fee whenever we have to deal with any state institution — even the courts. One cannot survive in our society unless one submits to the culture of nakabandi. Many of our brilliant and talented youth seek careers abroad simply because this culture violates their conscience and their sense of personal dignity.
Shakrullah Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2014.
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