They have to realise that history is not kind to those who ignore the writing on the wall
KARACHI: Our leaders, barring a few, behave as if they were beyond reproach of any errors, mistakes, or laws. They abuse and accuse one another of allegations of financial and moral corruption just to fool people. In a democratic system, the opposition’s main role is to highlight the shortcomings and wrongdoings, if any, of the government. The government usually defends itself with facts rather than levelling counter-allegations. The Panama papers leaked information about hidden offshore wealth of the people in power in many countries including ours. The opposition grabbed the opportunity to exploit the situation and sought answers from the sitting prime minister and his family. The government’s job was to defend itself with sound explanations, proofs, and facts; not counter-allegations.
A common person would have to provide proof of income to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) if he or she had wealth with no means to justify it. One cannot just get away by asking for proof of allegation from the FBR. However, PTI leaders keep raising the Panama leaks issue, but to no avail. An entourage of cabinet ministers and PM loyalists keep shouting in the worst possible manner that the opposition has to provide proofs that the wealth in question is ill-gotten. They also level many counter-allegations against the PTI leadership. They do this just to please their master. Surprisingly, the PML loyalists seems to care more about defending their master than anything else. It is about time our leaders learnt from their mistakes and started doing the right thing. They have to realise that history is not kind to those who ignore the writing on the wall.
Urooj Naqvi
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2017.
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