THE government recently claimed that the economy of the country grew by 4.1pc, in GDP terms over the last year. Within a day or so of the announcement came counter claims, from various sources, saying that the government had ‘fudged’ the figures and that the growth was actually much less and more likely to be in the 3.5pc range. The counter claims seem credible and the questions raised about growth rates across various sectors that the government had claimed seem fairly well grounded.

The government projected a certain deficit in the recently announced budget and within a day or two there were news reports that the government had under reported the projected deficit by a substantial amount.

Government figures on inflation are routinely questioned. The claims of the Federal Bureau of Revenue pertaining to tax collection have been regularly debated and shown to be flawed or fudged. Hardly anyone believes government figures and pronouncements on poverty or for that matter any other statistic given by the government, whose pronouncements are always taken with a pinch of salt.

The same extends to state announcements on how many ‘terrorists’ or ‘suspected militants’ have been killed or arrested, how many of the missing people are or are not in state custody, and what the reason is for a certain state action.

Truth becomes a casualty when particular interests try to manipulate reality.

The truth becomes a casualty when individuals or particular interests try to manipulate reality to suit their short-term objectives at the expense of the reputation of institutions. Trust and reputation, gained with difficulty and over time, are lost even if a single breach occurs: it takes a long time to develop a reputation for being honest, it takes one lie to lose it.

Sadly, all governments of the past and the current one, have felt it necessary to lie to the people of the country on one occasion or the other. Now we are in a position where it is, often, difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood and the level of trust, in almost everything that the state and its various organs do or say, is extremely low.

The latest episode, the tragic incident in Model Town, Lahore, that is still unfolding, is a case in point. The police are claiming there was due provocation, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) claims otherwise. Evidence, in the form of media footage, whether of police brutality or of PML-N goons leading the police, gives another story. The police have not given a shred of credible evidence to support their case, whereas there seems to be plenty of evidence to suggest the excessive use of force.

The political high-ups continue to support the police, feign ignorance or try to hide behind a judicial inquiry. But their culpability is not too hard to establish. Is there a deputy inspector general or an inspector general of police who could have ordered such an action on his own? If that is possible the political high-ups should be fired for incompetence and poor governance.

While the state is claiming provocation and a just response, media footage has showed up the collaboration of state organs with PML-N party goons, and clear episodes of the use of excessive force (merciless beatings of injured people, of people arrested and being taken to police vehicles, of old people and women). And while the political leaders have claimed ignorance and said that they will await the findings of a judicial probe, the police have already gone ahead and registered FIRs against PAT workers and have been shown to be putting pressure on various other state organs (doctors at Jinnah Hospital) to tamper with the evidence.

Whether evidence is tampered with or not, whether the judicial commission is able to do its work or not, the neutrality of the entire state has been compromised. People do not expect the truth to become the basis for subsequent actions. PML-N supporters will continue to think the police was right and there was provocation. PAT and groups in sympathy with them will feel they were ‘taught a lesson’ by design. And the neutral citizen, if there is such a beast, will feel at a loss as he believes the ‘truth’ will never come out and his trust in the state will continue to plummet.

Those who are playing the short-term game — and politicians and governments (as opposed to the state) do that regularly — do not understand the cost that institutions have to bear for their short-term manipulations of the ‘truth’ and ‘evidence’. They try to get away with their actions but in the process institutions can be damaged beyond repair. Sadly, though the PML-N has itself suffered the consequence of institutional degradation in the past, it has learnt no lessons.

Whether it is manipulation of macroeconomic data, appointments to top offices (State Bank of Pakistan is a case in point) or manipulation of evidence to protect politicians, it is the same story again and again. And with every repetition the level of distrust becomes higher.

There was a time when judicial commissions were taken seriously and were thought to be a big deal — whether or not they were able to implement anything, they were taken to be good revealers of the evidence at least. Today, there are few in the country who expect the truth to come out from any state organ, inclusive of the judiciary.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has issued a long statement on the Model Town incident. The gist of the statement seems to be a plea for a ‘fair’ investigation and for the findings of that investigation to be shared with the people at large. But given recent and past history, is that likely? Truth became a casualty long ago, and trust in state organs could hardly be lower. And given the government’s record so far a change is unlikely.

The writer is senior adviser, Pakistan, at Open Society Foundations, associate professor of economics, LUMS, and a visiting fellow at IDEAS, Lahore.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2014