THE report submitted by the National Accountability Bureau to the Supreme Court listing the details of 150 cases being pursued by NAB inspires little confidence. For one, the list appears to be a casual exercise, giving only a broad outline of the cases with names and the “gist of allegation”, with amounts arbitrarily put down. Many of the cases are over a decade old, yet are listed as “inquiry under progress”. The history of pursuing corruption cases in Pakistan is a chequered one mainly because of the repeated compromises struck between parties on account of political interference, the selective nature of the allegations, and political motivations behind many of the charges. It is worth noting the absence of names from the armed forces on the list. Why is it that three generals named in the Asghar Khan case, against whom the Supreme Court ordered legal proceedings, have still not been prosecuted? It is also worth recalling the zeal with which Gen Musharraf promised to pursue corruption cases at the start of his decade in power. Within a few years, he was forced to reach out to the same political class he had vilified in the early stages for being corrupt, and NAB granted a clean bill of health to the leadership of the PML-Q while continuing to pursue cases against the leaders of the other parties. This ignominious history ended with the NRO that saw Gen Musharraf come full circle in bargaining away his corruption allegations in return for political support.

In fact, one of the main reasons why NAB’s list of pending cases is so long is precisely because corruption has become a political trope in our lexicon, a generic allegation with which to smear political opponents. The selective use of corruption allegations means that the real culprits get away. Everybody knows how large a role corruption plays in the articulation of our politics and distortion of our policy environment, but the only place where the allegations get to stick is in the public perception, rarely ever in a court of law. By not being able to solve the cases before it, NAB proves that corruption is little more than a red herring in our society, used to malign and victimise political opponents. Establishing an independent anti-corruption body is necessary, with appropriate powers to initiate an inquiry and take it all the way to prosecution. But ensuring that such a body is not politicised will be a big challenge.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2015

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