The flight of values

It is too early to comment in any detail on a case which is ongoing involving a software house, but there is one area that we can discuss with a reasonable degree of clarity — the market for dishonesty.

Several years ago I lost a friend in an argument over the place of lying and dishonesty and the way it has become embedded in the many cultures of Pakistan (… and other countries of the subcontinent, we are not alone). My position was that Pakistan was the most dishonest culture I had ever lived and worked in. My friend took great exception and we went our separate ways, never to meet again. Since then, I have taken a close interest in the local trait best described as… ‘when in doubt — lie’.

The values of truth and honesty were drummed into me at a very early age, along with every other member of my generation. We were the first born after a war in which millions died. ‘Truth’ is said to be the first casualty of war, and the telling of the truth was much in the minds of my teachers in those early years at primary school. I recall children being punished for lying. Did I lie? On occasion yes. There must be few of us worldwide who have never ever told a lie or a twisty untruth designed to gain some advantage or other.

But in general terms, within the normative values for dishonesty shall we say — I led a truthful life and still do my best, difficult as it is oftentimes, to do the same. I was much assisted in my rectitude by the fact that mostly the people around me were honest as well. Not perfectly honest to be sure, but honest enough to grant a kind of herd immunity to institutionalised dishonesty.



Growing up and acquiring a taste for travel took me all over Europe, and although I did not travel with a Lie-o-meter strapped to the handlebars of my bicycle I was aware that I was travelling in countries and cultures that had similar values to my own. I moved through people and places where the truth in broad terms was a valued commodity.

Things started to unravel a bit in Italy, were definitely different to the way I swung my moral compass by the time I got to Turkey and then there was the Middle East. And the subcontinent. And Afghanistan. And Pakistan.

I discovered countries and cultures where the telling of the truth in a habitual sense was actually anathemous, and recall a number of discussions I had with my staff in Afghanistan as to why it was that they persistently lied to me about a vast range of subjects. Similar discussions had also been had with communities and individuals I was working with north of Gilgit in the 1990s, with people in Nagar taking a perverse pride in their almost complete lack of truthfulness about anything.

Nowadays, I do not expect anybody to be honest with me from the outset here in Pakistan, because my experience is that the national default position for the majority of the population if not of actual dishonesty then is one of prevarication, dissembling and obfuscation.

Despite being a profoundly, deeply, religious society, Pakistan sees little value in teaching ethical values in its primary schools and a layer of normative dishonesty runs steady and deep across society.

There are of course exceptions. Not everybody I meet is lying through their teeth and yes I do know honest men and women in Pakistan some of whom are my friends and confidantes. Yet, as a whole, I retain the perception that I live in a society where the culture of dishonesty is all pervasive. From politicians to history teachers (well some of them), the truth is one of those values that can be casually handled, honesty fine as far as it goes but when in doubt — lie.

To find that there is an allegedly profitable business trading almost exclusively in dishonesty in Pakistan comes as no surprise at all. I very much doubt that the current investigation is of an isolated instance. You want industrial-grade dishonesty? Well step right up… how much can we sell you?

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.