OUR prime minister has correctly diagnosed the disease from which our country has been suffering right from its birth in 1947.

The recent events of artificially created flour and sugar shortages which nearly turned away the common man from the ruling party is the best example. Even a man of average IQ could not fathom that our prime minister is so naïve that he has not kept his fingers on the pulse of a common man’s needs.

I must admit — diagnosing the ‘corruption cancer’ — was an easy part. The nearly impossible task is how to go about treating it.

Our country’s ‘medical condition’ is such that, in addition to a major surgery, it also needs chemotherapy and radiotherapy to prevent its recurrence. If one comes to think of it, under the present pseudo-democracy in Pakistan, the prime minister’s efforts will be in vain.

As there is no guarantee that we will be blessed again with the same or similar visionary prime minister, it boils down to ‘now or never’ situation. Desperate times and situations need desperate measures.

The government should all those involved in corruption a reasonable period of time — say one or two months — to say ‘no’ to this curse, explaining on all media why we Muslims are bound by our faith to uphold honesty.

M. Masud Butt
Lahore

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2020