KARACHI: Panellists at a public opinion forum, on the subject of ‘Saving an ailing state from the cancer of corruption’, organised by Pakistan Women Foundation for Peace (PWFFP), raised several questions while providing suggestions in view of the chaos resulting from the Panama Leaks scandal at a hotel here on Friday.

Introducing the subject, PWFFP chairperson Nargis Rahman said that every Pakistani had the right to challenge wrongdoing and “our reluctance to exercise this right is shameful”. “Through our silence and inertia, we become complicit to the wrongs we decry. Corruption flourishes, is endemic and entrenched because we have never individually, collectively or consistently fought against it. Thus we suffer indignity, mockery and abuse and remain a humiliated entity at all international forums. Our economy suffers the most and the fallout is on the increase in the shape of poverty and national and international debt. For the suffering of every homeless, hungry, sick and deprived Pakistani we are all guilty, and those who sit in the highest seats of power and authority the most guilty of all,” she said.

Well-known entrepreneur and founding member of the CPLC Nazim Haji observed that the general environment also played a role. “Your environment affects you. So first you need to clean up the environment,” he said.

He also wanted the public to understand the matter and not be passive observers. “Until and unless people come out on the streets demanding accountability in the Panama Leaks scandal, nothing is going to happen. The Supreme Court also needs public support,” he said.

Representing small businessmen, Atiq Mir said that “the roots of corruption, if we start looking for them, we will find in our own homes”. He said corruption had to be weeded out. “Don’t load a new file in your virus-ridden computer until you have run the antivirus programme,” he said.

Senior film and television artist Munawar Saeed said that without even realising it, “we teach our children how to lie”. “Something as small as telling your child to tell a visitor, you may want to avoid, that you are not home, may be a small matter for you but it enters the subconscious, and makes telling lies all right.”

Retired Justice Shaiq Usmani said that corruption had become a part and parcel of our society. “Things here are so bad that if, by some miracle, we succeed in ending corruption, this country come to a sudden standstill. You need a very strong force like the Army to take care of this because first you need laws in place to catch the corrupt, followed by improving your civil service. And the National Accountability Bureau must have a serving general as the boss as you need a powerful watchdog organisation. There is also much to be done to change our insufficient judicial system. Unless we bring drastic changes here, corruption will remain,” he said.

About the Panama Leaks issue, Justice Usmani said that world’s businesses ran through offshore companies and even 75pc ships in the world were registered with offshore companies for the reason of avoiding taxes so any good tax lawyer would tell you that there is no crime in run a business through an offshore company.

Retired Justice Haziq-ul-Khairi also added that he was not sure how the judicial commission formed to probe the Panama Leaks would fare under the circumstances. “It has virtually no chance to prove any wrongdoing as there are no laws to support investigation in countries where the offshore companies have been formed. So it is not clear whether the Chief Justice’s recommendations will have any binding,” he said.

“My mind also goes back to another commission, Bhutto’s Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission. We still don’t know the recommendations of that commission, and it has been over 45 years,” Justice Khairi added.

Barrister Farrukh Zia Shaikh said that all politicians in Pakistan were either corrupt, incompetent or unable to deliver. “And the Army doesn’t want to get involved as it already has a lot on its plate. But this is the first time that we ourselves are looking towards the Army to come, takeover and do something,” he said.

Well-known economist A.B. Shahid stressed that the prime minister must deal with this crisis and his family better supply the documents but it is unfortunate that nothing of the sort was on the cards. “It will have very adverse consequences,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2016