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The rotten NRO
Can Hon CJP, please undertake an operation Clean Up?
Comments Zahid Malik
The release of the list of NRO beneficiaries involving a sort of
whitewash of huge corruption worth about 1700 billion rupees and
which includes, among others, some of the towering personalities has
gripped the entire country into a flabbergasting astonishment. As
the 120-day period given by the Supreme Court in its July 31, 2009
judgement for validation of 37 ordinances including NRO has expired
and the Government's plan for its parliamentary approval has
miserably failed under the intense pressure of public opinion and
lack of support even from the coalition partners, all eyes should
now be set on My Lords in the apex court to examine the fate of the
NRO itself and the cases of corruption under the blackest ordinance
in order to clean up the system once and for all.
I plead for this course because the disclosure of the list of 8,041
has further blackened and dented abroad the fair image of Pakistan
as is evident from the latest report of the Transparency
International that has dropped the country's ranking by five more
points this year as compared to the last year. A major part of the
list was already known to the people but one shudders to see how the
political leaders and the bureaucracy having pocketed billions of
rupees in shady deals, kickbacks, commissions and tax evasion
subsequently manoeuvred to get off scot-free or unscathed, as if
none had any concern with the hard earned resources of this poor
State of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Apart from loss to the
national exchequer because of massive corruption, the country must
have suffered from incalculably great damage due to compromise on
quality of services and goods connected with these corruption cases.
There are others also against whom there are criminal cases
including murder, extortion, kidnapping and so on. One really gets
terrified to go through the details of some of the heinous crimes
committed by mafias of all sorts.
I felt ashamed when some of my friends in the diplomatic community,
after the release of the list, inquired how the menace of corruption
was tolerated by the society and the system. However, the positive
development is that after the disclosure of the names, there is a
national consensus that in order to meet the higher demands of
justice, the plundered national wealth should be fully recovered and
those involved, howsoever high positions they may hold, be punished.
And here comes the vital role of media which should ensure that the
sea-wind against corruption should not die down and the voice be
made more louder. The question arises how to undertake the major
surgery. Prominent leaders of Opposition parties and the people at
large are demanding that those named in the list of beneficiaries
and holding public offices should immediately resign from their
offices and then contest their cases in courts of law. But it
appears that this will not be the case. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf
Raza Gilani has already indicated that he would not like to be
insulted for the crimes of others. His message was loud and clear
when a newspaper reported that the name of his spouse was in the
list of beneficiaries prompting him to declare that he would resign
if the name of any of his family members was found in the list of
those who got relief through the much-maligned NRO. To me, this was
in a way also a message for all those whose names are in the list,
to demonstrate the moral courage and follow the suit. There are also
indications that names of Cabinet Ministers included in the list
might be dropped in the promised reshuffle.
In the opinion of legal luminaries whom I talked to, the entire
Cabinet will be disqualified under the doctrine of collective
responsibility if it failed to take action against the corrupt and
criminals. The Government is required to prosecute the corrupt but
again there are doubts among the people that the prosecutors
nominated by it will not be able to pursue the cases properly and
take side with those in the PPP against whom the proceedings would
be held. Because of this fear, demands are already being made for
mid-term elections or as an alternative creation of an independent
organization with people of impeccable character and record to
prosecute those named in the list. In my view, the most logical and
acceptable alternative will be for My Lords in the Supreme Court to
take the entire case of horrible and phenomenal corruption and loot
of national wealth as only they have the confidence of the masses to
carry out an across the board exercise in an impartial manner. I say
so because if left to the Government or for that matter to the
politicians and bureaucracy they would find ways and means to
scuttle the entire move to save their skin. I have reasons to
believe that the honourable judges would play their crucial role at
this juncture of history in the larger interest of the country so as
to lay foundations of a clean and honest society.
The Supreme Court has a special responsibility in this case as it
was the apex court that referred it to the Government/Parliament and
it should now decide its fate as well. The nation has particularly
great and justified expectations from the worthy Chief Justice
Honourable Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, who has quite
visibly demonstrated his keen interest in an agenda of reforms that
also includes purging the judiciary of the curse of corruption,
which has earned him a high esteem and exalted place in every
stratum of society. I now realize how the Chief Justice twice
returned to his august position after a firm and categorical “No” to
one of the most powerful Presidents who demanded his resignation. I
am convinced that there is some divine wisdom behind his otherwise
impossible restoration, that he is heading the Supreme Court once
again at the defining moment of our history. His miraculous
reinstatement was made possible after a long and unparalleled
movement by the entire nation, lawyers, media and members of the
civil society. I understand that the Army Chief General Ashfaq
Parvez Kayani also put his foot down to pave the way for the change
that brought the CJ back to the coveted office. Otherwise in a Third
World country and that too in the era of a military ruler it is
unheard of that an all-powerful President dismisses any one and he
returns back to the position. His return was a miracle and perhaps
he is the only person who I believe is destined to play a crucial
role. I am also confident that his name would be written in golden
words in the history for delivering justice in so important cases of
looting of national wealth that relate to the honour of the country
as well.
I would suggest that the apex court may not please restrict itself
to notorious NRO or its beneficiaries and instead undertake a major
exercise, which I would prefer to call Operation Clean-up to make
all those accountable who grabbed and plundered Pakistan's wealth in
any manner . Its scope should be expanded also to include those who
plundered billions of rupees by getting their loans written off and
the amount be recovered by unearthing and auctioning their assets
both within the country and abroad. There should be no timeline for
the recovery of these written-off loans. Similarly, the problem of
land grabbing has also assumed enormous proportions and state as
well as private lands are being grabbed mercilessly.
It is pertinent to mention that the total outlay of Pakistan's
Federal Budget for 2009-10 is Rs 2482 billion. Corruption worth Rs
1700 billion was intended to be legalized under NRO while successive
Governments since 1985 waived off bank loans worth Rs 90 billion up
to 2007 (Rs 30 billion from 1985 to 1999 and Rs 59.945 billion
between 1999 to 2007). The total looted amount is, therefore, almost
equal to one year's budget of the country. Again, Finance Minister
Shaukat Tarin acknowledged the presence of corruption worth Rs 500
billion in FBR alone, which is more than equivalent to four years of
what the country would get under the Kerry-Lugar Bill. It would be
worthwhile if the plundered national wealth is fully recovered from
the NRO beneficiaries and from the bank defaulters and land grabbers
pay back the costly foreign loans and discard the practice of taking
more loans. This would also set precedence for the future and no
one, how powerful he might be or have strong connections, would dare
to indulge in corrupt practices and also help remove the stigma on
Pakistan as one of the corrupt countries in the world. I am sure
majority of people would agree that operation clean-up by the
judiciary would be much better than a bloody revolution, or a
possible fragmentation of the Federation, which we are heading for
mindlessly.
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