Red tape has bred corruption: Sharjeel Memon

Judges have imposed a ‘judicial’ martial law in the country, says the information minister.

KARACHI:

“Bureaucratic red tape” has bred corruption in every sector, declared Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon at a seminar organised by the Muhammad Ali Jinnah University on Thursday.

He said that a lack of democracy was responsible for the corruption in Pakistan and that young people should come forward and join hands against bureaucratic “red tape”.

Memon added that government officials sitting in the corridors of power were deliberately looking for ways to fish for bribes. “I request you people to stop giving them carrots. This will ultimately shut their mounts and bureaucratic red tape will come to an end.”

Anwar Mansoor Khan, a senior lawyer and former advocate general, while referring to Article 25 of the constitution, said that the law prohibits discrimination, but the red tape of bureaucracy had created divisions in society. He said that those people who have power can easily resolve the country’s problems but are leaving innocent citizens to fend for themselves.

“Why does the queen travel without a huge convoy, the kind which creates traffic mess here when politicians want to use a particular road?” he asked. Khan added that the main responsibility of elected representatives is to serve people rather than create hurdles for them.

The president of the university, Dr Abdul Wahab, former banker Anwar Aziz and former bureaucrat Muhammad Hanif also spoke at the event.

The judiciary

Memon commented on how he felt that Pakistan has been hit by a ‘judicial’ martial law – not because barrel-chested generals have emerged from the barracks but because the judges in the courts are not taking up cases on merit.

He made these remarks after the Supreme Court asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to stop investigating the case against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, the chief justice’s son. He had been accused of accepting a sum of around Rs340 million from business tycoon Malik Riaz for agreeing to influence court proceedings.

Memon said that the apex court’s decision on Thursday to take the case away from NAB and hand it to an independent commission was comparable to the behaviour of dictators. “Why is one person being given priority over institutions? It is very unfortunate that the self-proclaimed champions of fundamental rights are violating the law,” said the information minister, adding that Provisional Constitutional Order judges have started targeting President Asif Ali Zardari.

The information minister also lashed out Chaudhry Nisar, the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, claiming that he was on the payroll of the Sharif brothers to heap invective on President Zardari.

When asked about the recent killing spree in Karachi, Memon said that the attacks were an attempt to create anarchy in Pakistan and pit different ethnic and sectarian groups against each other.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2012.