Opposition leader, Khurshid Shah's assertion that politicians arrests will derail democracy, appears far from reality
ISLAMABAD: The opposition leader in the National Assembly has said that corruption was the product of dictatorships and recent arrests of politicians were a plan to derail democracy. This assertion appears to be far from reality. The evil of bribery prevailed in the subcontinent long before 1947. Mr Jinnah, while addressing the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, stated that the first duty of a government was to maintain law and order for protection of life, property and religious beliefs of citizens and then curb corruption and bribery. His vital priority after peace was to curb the curse of corruption, which he termed a poison.
The menace of corruption has been allowed to spread like a cancer in our society. With a few exceptions, the current politicians are a product of martial law. Instead of eradicating corruption, they repeat the monotonous allegations of loot and plunder against one another. All parliamentarians condemn corruption and vow to rid the country of this curse. However, when the government initiates action against any of them, they hide behind democracy as if this representative system is meant to protect and safeguard their interests rather than the interests of those who elect them.
Raja Shafaatullah
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2015.
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