See no evil, hear no evil

Everywhere you look its become normal, if not a matter of slight pride, to be cheating, especially in terms of taxes.

I may be over-analysing but it seems as a society we have completely condoned white-collar crime. This really dawned on me a few months ago when I read that the new and expensive mobile vehicle verification system being used to check vehicle ownership and taxes details by the Islamabad Police was disbanded after around a month of service as several “wealthy and well-connected” people were exposed of riding non-customs paid vehicles. The system has reportedly been restored since then but one will have to wait and judge its efficacy now. It was nevertheless shocking as the point of the system was to catch those, mostly “influentials”, using stolen or unregistered vehicles. But then how do you clean a house whose keepers are dirty?

A friend in Peshawar once took me to an acquaintance’s hujra in Jamrud. Never mind the fleet of cars or abundance of weapons and drugs or the ostriches tied in the courtyard. What struck me most was our host’s apathy in pointing out an old Corolla in his garage and boasting that this was the vehicle his father used to murder an opponent on court premises. But of course this is the wild west, so let’s come back to the “lawful” mainland.

Everywhere you look it has become normal, if not a matter of slight pride, to be cheating the state, especially in terms of taxes. Yes, having to grease palms to get your work done has been a norm for long but never has it been so widely accepted. Makes you wonder whether white-collar crime is still a punishable offence.

Commercial activities are, strictly speaking, illegal in residential areas. Yet business is booming because it’s a mutually beneficial system. Whether you own an illegal guesthouse or unlawfully ply the nine-seat rickshaws, it seems the state will keep bending as long as its kitty is being regularly filled.

The former IG of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, along with other gentlemen, reportedly cheated the state of hundreds of millions of rupees while purchasing arms and bullet-proof jackets for the militancy-bombarded cops of the province. Yet where’s the outrage? Steal millions and then pay back some under the voluntary return system and go scot-free, that’s as close as you’ll come to a punishment. If you do go to jail, you always have the this-is-a-politically-motivated-strong-arm-tactic-of-the-government slogan at your defence which in turn increases your standing once you’re out.

I wonder when “obliging” will find its way into NAB’s dictionary of offences. It’s so interesting how this word has replaced corruption or graft. It’s what the middleman thrives on, obliging the powerful minister or an important DG of something---send the Mrs an expensive gift or pay for the young ones’ trip to Germany and in return get the department’s canteen contract without competitive bidding.

The problem isn’t Pakistan specific. The mayor of Trenton, New Jersey was indicted in February for accepting a bribe by a land developer. The American state is infamous for corruption in doling out real estate development contracts and has seen indictments of three mayors and two state legislators in recent years. Here in the land of the pure, what’s different is the total lack of accountability and guarantee of escaping punishment. The NICL, Ogra and EOBI scams are the recent few that come to mind. Punishments? Please.

On a similar note, The Polyester Prince by Hamish McDonald is a must read for anyone interested in the subject. It shows the state’s complicity in fueling the rise of business tycoons and then becoming beholden to them. I wish one day someone is able to set the record straight on the rags to riches story of Pakistan’s who’s who of tycoons.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2014.

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