COMMENT 11
Thursday, 28 April, 2016
Editor’s mail
Send your letters to: letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
PM’s speech and Panama
What is it all about? Making sense of things post Panamagate them seem to have narrowed down the scope of across the board accountability, which they have been so vociferously crying for whenever it suited their interests, to only the accountability of the sharif family. The desirability of accountability and elimination of the all permeating corruption within the society, particularly among the rulers both military and civilians, undoubtedly needs top priority to winch the country out of the morass it is stuck into and to ensure good governance. But the question is, have the politicians and the military rulers ever made an earnest effort to tackle this menace by evolving a fool-proof and independent mechanism to check corruption among the public representatives? The answer unfortunately is an emphatic malik muHammad asHRaf NO. The slogan of eliminating corruption has repeatedly been used for witch-hunt of the politihE Panama Leaks have undoubtedly cal opponents and to hoodwink the people. it really sends shudders through my nerves created a commotion all over the world, particularly in those countries whenever i hear our politicians and military whose leaders have been identified as brass preaching morality. it invariably has had owners of off-shore companies. The sinister connotations in the past. Bertrand Rusopposition parties in those countries and media sell, a British philosopher, Logician, mathematiare all feverishly engaged in interpreting the cian, historian, social critic, political activist and revelations in line with their own pre-conceived Nobel Laureate said” We have, in fact, two notions and respective agendas, more so in kinds of morality side by side; one which we countries like Pakistan. The interesting feature preach but do not practice and another which of this mad race for gunning the governments we practice but seldom preach”. The hall mark in saddle is that nobody has even bothered to of the Pakistani politics has been the morality that we preach but do not practice. ascertain the authenticity of the Leaks itself. Notwithstanding the fact that Panama Leaks it is interesting to point out that another Leak known as Wiki Leaks have thrown some only reveals ownership of off-shore companies light on how the Panama Leaks have surfaced, of 200 hundred Pakistanis including sons of the who is behind it and what its real motives are. Prime Minister and not any alleged wrong-doing According to Wiki Leaks the leakage of papers on their part, the Prime Minister has readily from the Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fon- agreed to have the issue probed and responding seca was orchestrated by the Us Organized to the demands of the opposition, particularly Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the PTi has also written to the Chief Justice for the purpose was to target Russia, particularly Pres- formation of an inquiry Commission to be ident Vladimir Putin. it further revealed that the headed by him, with TORs which apart from project was funded by Us agency for interna- Panama Leaks a, have widened the scope of intional Development and George soros Open quiry to the corruption by the previous rulers as society Foundation. General (Retd) Aslam well as those who got their bank loans written Baig, a former COAs also believes that it is an off. The TORs notified by the government more international conspiracy to destabilize Pakistan. or less fit into the description of across the board accountability. There can According to him he was be difference of opinion suspicious of a foreign on the modalities to be design behind the revelaadopted to inquire into tions as some foreign the issues identified by forces were trying to exTORs but anybody honMQM is in a difficult ploit it for their evil plots estly believing in across in Pakistan. his observasituation due to Rangers the board accountability tion that india with Us collaboration was playing action in Karachi and new cannot take umbrage at the intent and the desired a dirty role in destabilizevidence emerging about scope of the inquiry. ing Pakistan to upset the There is almost a naprospect of CPEC, cannot its links with RAW. tional consensus on holdbe dismissed lightly. the public Similarly a number of PPP ing Nonetheless, the oprepresentatives accountposition parties and the stalwarts are allegedly able for any wrong doing polarized media in Pakthat they have done and istan have seized the opinvolved in a number of the elimination of corrupportunity to have a swipe cases of corruption. tion. Panama Leaks have at the government and the thrown open the best ever focus is particularly on opportunity to take an the family members of the honest initiative to idenPrime Minister. All of
T
His observation that India with US collaboration was playing a dirty role in destabilizing Pakistan to upset the prospect of CPEC, cannot be dismissed lightly.
tity, shame and punish the crooks irrespective of their attire, who have taken the nation for a ride. Unfortunately this is not what opposition parties have in mind for the reasons of their own. Their perception of accountability is only shooting arrows at the sitting government and to keep enjoying their own share of the booty. Perhaps a cursory glance at the credentials of parties which are raising the hullabaloo about corruption and accountability of the sharif family would be of some interest to the people and their relevance to the issue at hand. PTiactually was a brain-child of late General hamid Gul, the man who was responsible for introducing and sustaining Jihadi culture. imran Khan was the staunch supporter of General Musharraf. if General (Retd) Aslam Baig, Javed hashmi and brother of shah Mehmood Qureshi are to be believed, PTi and PAT sit-ins at islamabad were part of a conspiracy to destabilize the government, a stigma which imran still wears. Reportedly imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen are also among those who got their loans written off during Musharraf regime. A news report in a national English daily on Tuesday 26 April 2016, reveals that Jahangir Tareen got his loans of well over Rs.99.6 million written off. The report includes a facsimile of a letter written by state Bank to ECP confirming the proposition. MQM is in a difficult situation due to Rangers action in Karachi and new evidence emerging about its links with RAW. similarly a number of PPP stalwarts are allegedly involved in a number of cases of corruption. Arrest of Dr. Asim is also very worrisome for the party. The leaders of PML (Q) which was a King’s party also have a slew of skeletons in their cupboards and undoubtedly are beneficiaries of the corrupt practices of Musharraf regime. Their names also have often been cited among those who got their loans written-off. Collaboration between them to target the sharif family is quite understandable in view of the foregoing facts. imran Khan, ostensibly, after having been disappointed by the failure of the conspiracy to dislodge the PML (N) , rejection of his rigging mantra by the Judicial commission and the routing of his party in the Local Bodies Elections, feels that his only chance of ever making to the corridors of power, is through fomenting political chaos in the country and forcing mid-term elections. The other parties probably want to put pressure on the government to back-off from action against their stalwarts involved in corruption. Therefore they would never support any move for across the board accountability. Their emphasis on accountability of only the sharif family explicitly tells us what this fuss is all about. Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com
ThE PM’s second address to nation within a month following Panama disclosure of Offshore companies owned by his children does not evoke any sympathy rather it reflects an image of betrayal. Coming from a very humble background, a small village in East Punjab, this country offered his hard working father numerous opportunities to rise from almost nowhere to a man of means, owning a steel mill ittefaq Foundry. Agreed, that an individual named Gen Musharraf had no moral or constitutional right to force a Pakistani national, elected as PM, to exile, because there is no law on statute books that allows such an abuse. What Musharraf did was illegal. he abused the trust this country reposed in him, a trust which he has betrayed by abusing his powers and abandoning Pakistan after relinquishing power. The PM must remember that it was Pakistan which offered his family abundance, because there are numerous others who faced greater hardships, sacrificed far more and may have worked as hard as sharif clan, but yet have chosen to live and die in this country with their assets and family located here. There are thousands who have sacrificed their lives for this country but their orphans did not abandon their motherland, because the bond between son and mother is very strong. People die for either faith or country, because their commitment to both is strong and binding. You do not abandon your motherland on first sign of adversity, unless you consider Pakistan a convenient financial transit stop over, where you make loads of money, evade taxes, but yet justify transferring all your assets abroad and still consider it moral to seek an elected office, where you decide fate of millions who have chosen to live and die here, for better or worse, till death so that their bones are interred in this soil. Nothing can justify abandoning your motherland, especially when it has offered you so much in terms of financial growth and respect by electing you to highest office not once, but thrice. You sir, owe a lot of debts to Pakistan and the least that you can do is to transfer all your assets and force your family to move lock, stock and barrel, if you consider Pakistan to be your motherland. Ali MAlik TARiq lahore
World Health Safety Day ThE World Day for safety and health at Work is observed every year on 28th of April by the international Labour Organization (iLO) which is a day to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. it is an awarenessraising campaign in order to focus international attention on emerging trends in the field of occupational safety and health on the magnitude of work related injuries, diseases and fatalities worldwide. According to iLO estimates, every year some two million men and women have lose their lives through accidents and diseases linked to their work. it is reported that, there are 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million occupational diseases each year, incurring Us$ 2.8 trillion in costs for the lost working time and expenses for treatment. The fatalities, accidents and illness at work are highly preventable and we have an obligation to act in order to eradicate them. so, the occupational safety, health culture is one of our right to a safe the healthy working environment and respected at all levels, where the governments, employers and workers actively participate in securing one of the safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties in a nation. S.P PHullAn Turbat
The NTS teachers of Balochistan iT’s painful to explain the miserable conditions of NTs teachers of Balochistan. it’s true that since 13 may of 2015 the NTs (National Testing service) has conducted it’s test in every area of Balochistan in order to select the best teachers of Balochistan for talented students. Further, from 12 of December in 2015, due to the great efforts of former CM of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik, teachers were required to start their duties in different villages or places. Undoubtedly, they are playing their duties greatly, but the painful thing is that NTs has not given salaries to the selected teachers for almost 4-5 months they were deprived of their salaries and still they are suffering.No doubt, they are giving the duties on far places, the expense of transportations are indefinable and unaffordable for them. Thus, today they need the extreme support of their government in order to resolve their problems. That’s why, i request the concerned authorities to take pragmatic steps to resolve the hurdles of new appointee teachers. nigAR kd Turbat
Wasting water EVERY morning when i go to college i see a sight that leaves me in misery. Good clean water is being wasted because the pipelines through which it is brought are damaged. This is indeed unfortunate as many areas of District Turbat are not receiving adequate water for their needs. What is even more dishearting is that less than a 140kms away, Gwader is facing an acute water crisis. i request the government to carry out immediate repair of the pipelines and take measures to ensure water supply for the citizens of Turbat city. YAHYA BAdAl kech