Befouling public in the name of public!
By Shahid Rizvi
Accountability is an interesting yet intriguing thing. Don’t take it seriously. Don’t make it a laughing stock either. Galeilo said that “unfortunate is the nation which needs heroes”, but we are fortunate enough to have heroes because as a nation we are unfortunate. We have heroes and the poor accountability ordinance. We are unfortunate that we need accountability. The President thought it necessary and promulgated it. Accountability is a double-edged sword. It cuts both ways. Those who have been asked to give an account and those who are responsible to ask. But the sword is not made of steel. It is wooden stuff like the one used in stunt films. The below will break the skull of poor man but the blade will be broken if it falls a strong head.
I could not understand what was the difference between Namaz Sharif’s bill. The bill presented by PPP and the ordnance. It, however, appears that all of the man all of them wanted accountability of each other. It looks like a political pressure tactic more than a serious effort on anyone’s part. Who is accountable to whom? Mind you the nation is not in the picture. The nation has never demanded accountability. The reason is obvious. We know that the system is corrupt which allows corruption. And, without any change in the system, corruption cannot be stopped. Change of system does not mean change from democracy. It means a higher tier of democracy. More democracy. More real power to the people. Power to the people to decompose the ruling elite which comprises of feudal lords and their henchmen.
President, Prime Minister, ministers, national assembly, and provincial assembly members are big zamindars and feudal. Who would account for whom? Unfortunately, a few you are not feudal have immersed themselves in feudal traditions. Accountability is all a mess. Sand never preserves footprints. Caretaker Prime Minister has admitted that such people have left no clues.
A loan granted by a bank without proper security and documentation does not make the done accountable. However, the picture makes the bank officials to be real culprits. A land grabber shifts the responsibility towards a Chief Minister or someone else. An illegal appointment is the responsibility of the boss who is appointed using these discretionary powers. Billions of millions and millions of rupees are sanctioned by the competent authority. Who will be taken to task?
Accountability is a must, but it has to be done with just. With true and valid proof against anybody and everybody without any discrimination. The episodes regarding horses being kept in AC rooms and fed with fruits and jams are innovations of some idiot’s mind. Who will believe it that it was criminal? Abida Hussain, Pir Pagara, and many others have stud farms and they care for their horses. Electronic media is wasting its time and energy on Surrey Mahal reports. Benazir was not born in a hut and her grandfather and father had been a big feudal lord. She herself belongs to one of the richest families of Sindh. Many other lords of this country have palaces, farms and other property in different countries. Have all of them made this property through illegal means? People have foreign accounts. Is it a crime? It is not a petty matter that some cargo was sent by PIA free of charge. Is anybody accountable in PIA?
Since everyone has spoken in the name of the public, I also request in the name of the public that the public may very kindly be spared from befouling tactics.
