ABRAHAM Lincoln once wrote to his son’s teacher: “Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder, but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God.” In today’s Pakistan, we have reasons to revisit the message and see if we can make good use of it.

Corruption is rampant across the land, eating away national resources and compromising the future of coming gene-rations. The price tags on our souls have become devalued. But, are we worried about it?

The late development practitioner and social scientist, Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, observed in his writings: “In 1938, when I visited Bengal for the first time, there were seventeen ICS officers. They had an impeccable reputation of integrity and character. In 1950, once I visited again, those colleagues had reached senior ranks. I observed with disappoint- ment, that one by one most of them had fallen prey to corruption and lust, and only three could remain upright.”

This does not mean that only the government officials have fallen prey to corruption; this stigma pollutes all spheres of national life. While ensuring self-destruction through unlawful means of livelihood, such creatures mortgage the future of the nation at a slender cost.

Rigoberta Menchú, the Guatemalan Nobel Prize laureate, had once rightly said: “Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.” Indeed, we, in Pakistan, need to pay heed to this sane advice as well.

Farrukh Shahab
Lahore

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2025