Perils of involvement

A WORLD BANK study released on Tuesday paints a dismal picture of the level of corruption in the country and points to the crippling effect this is having on economic development. It claims that the menace of corruption has now spread to members of the armed forces who have, in recent years, been deployed to carry out tasks previously reserved for civilians. While few would disagree with the report’s characterization of Pakistan as a country overrun by corrupt inspectors and bribe-taking officials, what is disturbing is that the army personnel engaged in civilian duties too are being infected with the spreading contagion of corruption. According to the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy, the plethora of powers vested in petty officials has led to a system of extortion at every level, making the life of entrepreneurs a misery. In recent years, the army too has been deployed to carry out such tasks in organizations such as Wapda, the KESC and the Pakistan Railways, besides many ministries and departments. This has clearly had a corrupting influence on the personnel involved. A highly disciplined force such as the army needs to be kept, as far as possible, aloof from the rough and tumble of everyday governance.

The armed forces are best left to carry on with their basic task of defending the country’s frontiers and not be distracted by chores such as reading electricity meters and keeping a lookout for ‘ghost’ schools. By mingling with the public at this level, the army not only loses its mystique but is also exposed to the temptations of everyday life, in which corruption stands out as a pervasive evil. Just as the army should only be deployed on the streets in case of a grave emergency threatening peace and public order, and that too for a very limited period, using the army every now and then or for prolonged periods to do civilian duties serves to expose it to the corrupting and disorientating influences of wider public life. The Nawaz Sharif government revived this unhealthy trend by deputing army personnel to all kinds of jobs such as identifying ghost schools in Punjab.

The history of such extra-curricular distractions for the army is long and generally inglorious. When the Ayub regime brought in the army to deal with smuggling in the late fifties in the then East Pakistan, stories of corruption in the ranks soon began to circulate. The long bouts of martial law have also harmed the reputation of armed forces personnel, who were suddenly forced to attend to all kinds of civilian tasks, from running military courts to checking profiteering and overseeing cleaning of roads. As a result, their integrity and reputation took a needless battering. The army is a highly trained and disciplined fighting force that should not normally be distracted from its primary task. Its soldiers may enjoy a relatively good reputation in terms of their integrity but being human they should be kept insulated from the pulls and pressures of public life. That perhaps is why the British built their cantonments at a respectable distance from large population centres. Governments must realize that the army is not the panacea for every ill that afflicts this country. Rather than deploy the army to conduct tasks that ‘corrupt’ civilians cannot be trusted with, it would be far better to create laws that take away the vast discretionary powers from petty officials and institute a watertight system of accountability. The army, for its part, is best left to do what it is trained to do.

Malir under siege

FOR the last two days Karachi’s Malir area has been plunged into a state of panic and lawlessness as the sound of firing reverberates through the area forcing people to stay indoors. Shops and hospitals have remained closed and public transport off the roads despite the heavy presence of law enforcement agencies, which seem helpless in their bid to restore calm. The trouble started after the police raided various Malir localities to arrest some 16 Mohajir Qaumi Movement activists wanted in connection with the murder of one Zahid Khan, a relation of the SHO, New Karachi police station. The ensuing hide-and-seek between armed groups of hooligans and the police has virtually brought life to a standstill, with the lawless elements burning two vehicles on Wednesday and confining the panic-stricken residents behind closed doors.

This is not the first time police action has sparked this kind of reaction from groups of political activists. In a city where the general law and order situation remains a cause of constant worry for the authorities, perhaps it would have been better if the police had thought through their action plan before conducting arbitrary raids to arrest the wanted men in question. The proliferation of firearms among the activists and the police’s own tactics of using one band of militants against another over a period of time have resulted in the erosion of civil society norms to an extent that maintenance of law and order has become a headache for the authorities. Obviously, then, sporadic use of force by the same law enforcement agency against their erstwhile proteges is seen as a provocation. Quite clearly the higher authorities will now have to intervene to bring an end to the siege laid on the Malir residents by a handful of hoodlums. The first step towards normalizing the tense situation should be to get the shops opened and public transport back on the roads even if that means having to deploy additional security personnel to allay panic and fear gripping the people residing in the area.

Mango diplomacy

THE quality of Pakistani mangoes is better than Indian: to say that is to sound chauvinistic. Any Indian worth his salt would naturally feel offended, more so Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who would perhaps remember the poor quality pre-independence Pakistani mango, because he was born in Sindh. Since 1947, however, Pakistanis have put in special efforts to improve the quality of their mangoes and have succeeded remarkably. They range in taste - from luscious to sweet to sweet-and-sour. President Musharraf has done well to maintain the Pakistani tradition of sending mangoes to New Delhi each year as a gesture of goodwill. Once, Mr. Nawaz Sharif’s father also received a gift of mangoes from Indian prime minister Gujral. Indian officials now say they have so far not received the Pakistani gift. This is strange, for the mangoes are not slipping across the Line of Control; they have been sent via Dubai in an aircraft, because there are no direct flights.

One had better leave it to Advani to be fair and decide on the comparative qualities of Pakistani and Indian mangoes. Unfortunately, President Musharraf’s mangoes are meant for President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Vajpayee. Nevertheless, one hopes the Indian president and the prime minister will not ignore their deputy prime minister while savouring Pakistani mangoes. As for the comparative quality of the two countries’ fruit, foreigners — to whom we South Asians always look for approval — are a poor judge, since they have no taste for the subcontinent’s extra sugary mangoes. How about Pakistanis and Indians trying and developing a taste for each other’s mangoes? One day, perhaps, they will come to a common conclusion: both Pakistanis and Indians — as much as their mangoes — are good in their common as well differing ways. That will be day worth waiting for.