Pakistan is a victim of corruption

Imran Khan has pledged to fight it, but graft must not be used as a tool of intimidation and political isolation of anyone

I’ve heard about it all my life. I’ve seen it all around me. Its presence is undeniable. It appears in many forms. Its effect is on many levels. Its beneficiaries come in all shapes, sizes and moral whataboutism. There is no escaping it anywhere. Its primary and ultimate victim is one: Pakistan.

That ten-letter word that Mohammad Ali Jinnah warned about at the time of the establishment of Pakistan in August 1947, that all leaders, civilian and military, have used in various ways, to gain more power, or to oust a government, or to be elected into power: corruption. It is, it was, and it will be a word that empowers, dethrones, realigns and reasserts. How it will become more than a mere word to take the power of an instrument of real change, only time will tell.

And Imran Khan, the current prime minister of Pakistan, has much to do before his self-declared war against corruption affects a tangible change. Imran needs time and resolve to do what must be done to rid Pakistan of corruption.

The fundamental is simple. Any process of accountability must be clean and transparent, an unbiased investigative system, a judicial inquiry that

is without fear, intimidation, pressure or bias, and a judicial trial that is devoid of any indication of being a political or a personal witch-hunt.

What needs to be established without any ambiguity is the intention to do the right thing for the right reason. Corruption should not and must not be used as a tool of intimidation, political isolation of an individual or a party, and a systematic obliteration of political opposition. A sincere and exhaustive process for elimination of corruption is what Pakistan needs. It will not solve all issues, but what it will do is send a message to those currently in power, or wherever in power. You will not be spared if for your personal gain, or political hegemony, or accumulation of unlawful wealth, you harm Pakistan. Period.

No one is above the law, and no one will be allowed to play eenie meenie miney mo with the due process of justice.

Pakistan suffers from it all. There is accumulation of assets that do not have a verifiable money trail; unexplained bank accounts that have more zeroes than the dreams of a starry-eyed teenager; government deals with clauses that benefit in ways sneaky and dark those who promised to serve the country; use of government positions for extraction of personal and other favours; amendments to the taxation system to benefit a privileged few; money laundering that is done through means that do not take a scientist to decode; dummy companies in tax-free havens; setting up of huge business houses in the United Kingdom and the Middle East while claiming to be working for the betterment of Pakistan when in power, and seeking global investments for making Pakistan a prosperous, self-reliant country; and formation of assets abroad while in power in Pakistan. Pakistan deserves to have it all accounted for. And not one stolen million too late.

Process of accountability

Imran Khan in his 22-year-long struggle as a political nobody, and today as the prime minister is doing the right thing. What he must ensure as the prime minister of a country reeling from economic destruction that affects millions of those whose everyday struggle is limited to having a roof over their heads, running electricity and water in their house, money to pay for state-provided education and health care, and have enough food for everyone in the family is that everything he is doing is for the good of Pakistan.

What Imran as the prime minister has promised is the Riyasat-e-Madinah, a world in which there is no discrimination on the basis of family, relationship, wealth, and power. What Imran as the prime minister who has vowed “I will not spare them … I will go after them” must prove with action that his accountability is of all, starting with himself.

Imran’s process of accountability is not for political annihilation of one leader or one party. His announcement of war with corruption, neither unexpected nor recent, is not for relegation to political irrelevance Nawaz Sharif and his family and party, and Asif Ali Zardari and his family and party. Imran through his words to his nation has promised a system of checks and balances that once established in its truest form will be a guarantee that while in power and once out of power, if alleged of a financial impropriety or any misuse of power, Imran will also not be beyond accountability. That Pakistan will be on the lines of the Riyast-e-Madinah of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).

■ Mehr Tarar is a columnist and former Op-Ed editor based in Pakistan. Twitter: @MehrTarar