Adil Najam
It seems that the PPP government has finally found its equivalent to Wasi Zafar (the absurd, and often obnoxious, Law Minister in Gen. Musharraf’s government; here and here). Listen to the Rt. Hon. Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, Federal Minister for Defence Production, proclaiming that it is the “political right” of every politician to do corruption: “yaar, karrapshun pay humara haq nahiN hai, aur unn ka hai!”:
In all fairness, I should confess that there is a certain bholla-pun and naivety in Mr. Jatoi that is markedly different from the viciousness of Mr. Zafar.
Minister Jatoi does seem to be trying (badly) to make a argument – a silly argument, indeed; but an argument nonetheless. But he may also have hit on a real truth. Not only because so many politicians do indeed believe what he has naively said but even more because we have indeed created a system of governance (through the actions of the politicians, of the military and through the reactions – or lack thereof – from the courts and the media) that smacks of political immunity for the corrupt. Maybe we should listen to what he is saying more carefully, after all.
Of course, the host – Javed Chaudhry – is having a field day; and enjoying it too. A big part of this is the host’s inappropriate badgering and the game of trying to ‘corner the guest’ rather than having a conversation. Its a game played by all our leading hosts. But the fact of the matter is that Mr. Jatoi does himself no favors and looses his cool again and again. Even when the host shows some tarss on the guest, the Minister just keeps digging himself into deeper holes.
Seems like this is a pattern with Minister Jatoi, since he keeps coming for more from Javed Chaudhry. Watch them here too, as the host corners Mr. Jatoi to proclaim that he is himself corrupt (around min. 5:50). And, then, again, dig himself even deeper in a hole – trying to make a ‘point’ but making a fool of himself instead, even as the host tries to give him a way out.
And if you want more, see the next segment, when both Mr. Chaudhry and Mr. Jatoi keep at it.
Shameful! The least I could say.
Corruption is like a disease which is slowly eroding the foundations of our society and eating away the values on the basis of which we founded the new nation. Its social and economic costs are enormous for a country like Pakistan. Yes corruption may be present in many countries around the world, but should we worry about that or should we be concerned about what it is doing to our own country and how we could put an end to it.
Corruption does not take place in a vacuum. It is closely linked with the socio-economic conditions of a country. Right from the start, we have constantly failed to invest in our people, did not provide them with equal opportunities for education, access to healthcare, jobs, security, and in the process have created a frustrated, deprived, disgruntled and depressed class of people. An ideal breeding ground for extremist, criminal and corrupt practices. This is not an indictment of the poor people of Pakistan, but just to point out the failures of our ruling class.
Yes, there may be few hundred politicians in the list of thousands of NRO beneficiaries, but the fact that they are the chosen few who represent the entire nation in the parliamment and deciding the fate of the people, makes their corrupt practice a more serious crime. It is a pity, that we keep on electing these people again and again knowing well their backgrounds and record.
For Pakistan to succeed, there is no option but to have good governance, a rule based on transparency, accountability, merit, justice and equality. The electorate need to reject the corrupt politicians. Honest and capable people need to come forward and play their role in politics. I know it is easier said than done. But these are the only ingredients for our bright and prosperous future. Lets us hope that the Supreme Court full bench decision on NRO would herald a new begining for our country.
Adil u have very aptly commented about Mr. Jatoi’s bholpan. Poor chap is degrees better than Wasi Zafar because he lacks Wasi Zafar’s body language.
This is the culture that we are giving to the upcoming youth!! Guns and blasts. They will automatically become to use to this. The media should stop showing this and show positive things so that the situation can be brought under control
this is a complete laugh for me!! This is crazy what this politician is doing but side by side u look at the media who loves to air these kinds of things. Isnt it amazing how the media is making a joke out of it. Maybe the media should pay more attention in eliminating extremism rather then creating these funny talk shows!!
@ Zubair
In your zeal to be a critic and a patriot, you have missed the whole point of my post. So let me try and explain it to you:
The fact is corruption exists in many countries, particularly in our neighborhood. So it would be “holier than thou” for us to expect extreme piety and rampant honesty in our society. However, what we can and should do is what our neighbors in India have done: Pick Mr. Clean like Manmohan Singh to lead our democracy. Keep the people with the worst known record of corruption out of top places.
We must set a much higher standard for our leaders than we do now. The leaders set the tone for the entire society. Therefore our expecations of our leaders have to be significantly higher than the rest of the people.