Status over service

Recently, I attended an educational seminar at a society convention where three distinguished professionals – a judge, a professor and a senior police officer – addressed a hall full of audience, including students. The purpose of the seminar was to motivate young people through experiences of individuals who had built successful careers in public service.

The judicial officer spoke at length about the prestige and authority attached to a career in judiciary. According to him, the profession offers influence, social respect and attractive benefits. Addressing the students, he encouraged them to pursue higher education and consider joining the judicial service in the future. His remarks stated that judiciary is a powerful institution where individuals can play an important role in the state structure.

However, the discussion remained largely focused on the privileges of the profession rather than on its responsibilities and challenges. The honourable judge emphasised the authority vested in judicial officers but said little about the harsh realities of the justice system. In our country, courts are burdened with an enormous backlog of cases, and ordinary citizens often spend years seeking justice. For many people, justice delayed eventually becomes justice denied. These are painful realities that millions of litigants experience without being heard to their final disposition.

During the question-and-answer session, a few individuals raised concerns about these everyday issues. One participant asked about the persistent delays in the judicial system and why courts struggle to provide timely relief to citizens. The judge's response was cautious and somewhat unsatisfactory. Rather than addressing the problem directly, he spoke in general terms about the complexity of legal procedures and the limitations within the system.

The second guest speaker was a professor, a representative of one of the most respected professions in any society. Teachers have the power to shape minds, build character and prepare future generations for leadership roles in different fields. Unfortunately, the reality of the education sector often tells a different story. In Pakistan, millions of children remain out of school, while many government institutions exist only on paper. Ghost schools and absent teachers continue to undermine the credibility of the system.

Instead of discussing educational reforms, improving teaching standards or developing moral values among students, the respected teacher focused more on the personal advantages of pursuing higher academic positions. Teaching, ideally a noble mission dedicated to intellectual and moral development, increasingly appears to be treated as a profession driven by convenience. Many teachers devote more attention to private coaching centres than to their responsibilities in public institutions - government schools where they are supposed to serve students with sincerity and commitment.

The third speaker, a police officer, was perhaps the most candid. Through two real-life stories, he illustrated how the misuse of authority can seriously damage public trust in law enforcement. In one case, a man who had been robbed of two hundred thousand rupees while returning home from a bank approached a police station to register a complaint. Instead of assisting him, the officer on duty questioned the legitimacy of the money he was carrying. Rather than offering protection, the law-enforcement appeared to suspect the victim himself.

In another case, the officer described a man who had faced a lengthy trial despite the absence of clear evidence against him. After a year of court proceedings, the accused was offered the option to secure bail by paying fifty thousand rupees. His response was both ironic and tragic. He remarked that if he had intended to pay money to escape trouble, he could have simply given the same amount to the police officer who had earlier suggested an "informal settlement" to avoid arrest.

These are the harsh realities of our society: instead of prioritising service, we increasingly value professions for their privilege, status and power. As a result, the true purposes of such roles - to serve the public - are often compromised.