The farce of institutional sanctity

Of all the postulates of the origin of states, the social contract theory enjoys wider public assent and application in modern times. It states that the existence of societies results from a conscious contract entered by men. This contract develops a modus operandi and creates the moral and political standard between the ruler (government) and the ruled (public). Under the terms of the contract, the people elect from among themselves people or groups to govern their affairs under the chosen norms, terms and conditionality. The choice of public and the support of the government make the latter responsible and accountable to the former. These responsibilities revolve around the management of public affairs in the best possible manner.

In return for the materialisation of the responsibilities and services, the public reciprocates the government’s institutions with respect. And the philosophy behind public respect towards institutions is to accord the government the moral strength necessary for efficient functioning.

The sanctity of institutions is essentially linked to their responsibilities towards the public. Hence, the claims of the sanctity of the institutions that fail in their responsibilities are a farce. Moreover, the people manning the institutions receive remuneration from the taxes generated by the people. As the real owner of society and chief architect of the contract, the public’s sanctity outweighs that of the institutions they create through their consent.

However, the terms of the social contract often get rigged in the favour of the powerful. The public institutions gradually overstep their assigned authorities and start encroaching into the public domains in a manner that controls social life. By so doing, they overreach their mandated roles and keep on committing excesses against the public in the name of “public services”. This way, they rob the sense of sanctity from people and fallaciously attach the same to the institutions. The false sense of institutional sanctity not only accords powerful the implied licence to systematic brutalities against the subjects but also decriminalises their heists of the public exchequer.

This makes them extractive and oppressive and despotic. Each institution tries to wield more influence and extract more benefits than the other. This megalomania causes power overlap and results in institutional friction. Since the people manning them are the ultimate beneficiaries, the institutions ultimately collaborate with themselves and jointly feast on the country. To this end, they amend the ritualistic laws and the constitutional provision and adjust their vested interests. The people encroaching on the institution keep on embezzling resources and authorising their excesses towards the public. The institutions mutually protect each other’s interests and stakes.

And ironically, the failed institutions take refuge under the falsified notions of sanctity. They penalise the questioning of the so-called sanctity by invoking the brutal laws of treason, contempt, heresy and interference in the rendering of public duties. Those daring to resist the systematic heists face exemplary retributions and, sometimes, even death. Thereafter, the public and the exchequer become their main prey to bake and feast on. The repeated exploitation and embezzlement of authority make the public forget if they are real powerbrokers and have any sanctity. Ultimately, they find living under institutional slavery as their divinely ordained fate. And these countries ultimately fail because their institutions fail to selflessly execute their responsibilities towards the public.

Like many post-colonial societies, Pakistan failed to evolve efficient and responsive institutions. Failing on their responsibilities towards the masses, most of the country’s institutions stand relevant only under the fallacious cloak of sanctity. They are megalomaniacs, inefficient and unresponsive towards the public. The military’s obsession with playing beyond barracks, the judiciary’s underperformance, the bureaucracy’s pliant practices, political parties’ unsettling greed and the media’s wolfish stance have brought the country to this sorry state. The government is required to overhaul structural and functional norms and make institutions responsive and accountable to the public.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2023.

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