A FEW years ago I asked a question: How do we shame the shameless? The feedback overwhelmingly indicated that I was considered to be naive, and I was the butt of much laughter.

Yesterday I received by courier three bound files of papers with a covering letter purportedly from 'WAPDA Officers (For good management)'. The writers conveyed to me their salaams and told me that they had never imagined that I could be so naive as to imagine that General Pervez Musharraf and his men know nothing about the present high level corruption, which I maintained was drastically reduced. They also put it down to the ageing process, or to the desire to believe in someone, that I was under the impression that corruption at the lower levels had been somewhat reduced. They were sending me three volumes of documents 'painstakingly put together' which they suggested I study as the contents may change my opinion. This also would be material for one of my columns. The closing exhortation: "May you live long to see Jinnah's Pakistan once again."

Now, as would have said my late lamented old counsel, Dingomal Ramchandani, who, when the true history of Pakistan is written, may warrant more than just a footnote: Lo and behold! The honest officers of WAPDA have not signed their letter, or identified themselves. Shame?

Why and how is it that we have leaders who have no concept of apology or atonement for their conduct? Take Jungle ke Badshah Bill Clinton, who, two days before he relinquished the most powerful office in the world, made the following statement: "I tried to walk a fine line in between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal and that certain of my responses to questions about Ms Lewinsky were false. I have apologized for my conduct and I have done my best to atone for it with my family, my administration, and the American people."

Our tin-pot Napoleons who have lied through their rotten teeth, robbed like rabbits on a spree, fleeced the nation and left it on its knees, are incapable of bringing themselves to make similar statements, to hide their heads in shame, and quietly disappear for ever from the national scene, rather than getting themselves arrested, jailed, pardoned, exiled, or having been convicted of corruption, allowed to tramp the free world making speeches unfavourable to their country to whatever forum beckons them? This might allow the country to make some progress. One of the multifarious tragedies of Pakistan is that it is a nation bereft of men or institutions to whom and to which the people can look up with any modicum of trust or respect. Let us start with former president of the republic, the obstinate, uncompromising, grim Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who, one could take a risk and say, was not personally financially corrupt. But one cannot say with full certainty that he was not as, whilst in office, he allowed an open field to his two sons-in-law, Anwar Saifullah and Irfan Marwat, to abuse the national wealth and the people.

Ghulam Ishaq did right by dismissing Benazir Bhutto in 1990 on completion of her first round, together with her highly corrupt government. But then to ensure his own survival as head of state he imposed on Sindh as its caretaker chief minister no less a man than Jam Sadiq Ali, knowing fully well who and what he was and exactly what were his capabilities.

His mission in 1990 was to bring in Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, which he successfully did. His mission in 1993 was to dismiss Nawaz and his highly corrupt government. Having done that, he demeaned himself by collaborating with the same Benazir whom he had thrown out and for whom on many an occasion he had expressed his utter and absolute contempt. His mission was then to bring her back and whilst he was doing so he further demeaned himself by agreeing to include in his caretaker cabinet her disgraced and famously corrupt husband, Asif Zardari. Thereafter things went awry. A malleable Supreme Court brought Nawaz back and then a firm chief of army staff threw out both Ishaq and Nawaz.

Ghulam Ishaq is back in the news once more. Our world famous gold-medal bedecked nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has collected money from the people or collected from other monies to which he has access, to build within the grounds of the GIK University a mausoleum in which GIK will be put to rest when his time on earth runs out. Over Rs.5 million has been spent on this university project. Not believing what I had heard, I asked my friend, suspended speaker Ilahi Bakhsh Soomro, a great supporter of GIK and now rector of the GIK U, whether there was any truth in it. He admitted that there was; the mausoleum stands on a hilltop for all to see and admire. I suggested to Ilahi Bakhsh that he advise GIK not to make a fool of himself and not allow himself to be so degraded. Whether Ilahi Bakhsh can bring himself to do this is questionable. My friend is flip-flopping, hoping finally to be the prime minister of Pakistan - and he may turn out to be a good one.

Back in time to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Aspiring politicians all over the world, even in sanctimonious Great Britain, wield flattery as a powerful weapon with which to worm their way upwards. For instance, as Richard Crossman, Labour MP and a Wykhemist to boot, used to say, "The way to become a minister is either to lick the arses of the leadership or kick them in the political goolies." (This was quoted by Dalyell's biography of Crossman.) Few can be more adept at the art of flattery than was ZAB.

Rising young star ZAB in 1958 wrote a letter to President Iskander Mirza, by whom he had been sent as chairman of a delegation to the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea held at Geneva: "I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you of my imperishable and devoted loyalty to you. Exactly four months before the death of my late father, he had advised me to remain steadfastly loyal to you, as you were not an individual but an institution'.

"For the greater good of my country, I feel that your services to Pakistan are indispensable. When the history of our country is written by objective historians your name will be placed before that of even Mr Jinnah. Sir, I say this because I mean it and not because you are the president of my country."

It worked. When Iskander and Ayub took over on October 7, 1958, Zulfikar was sworn in as a full-fledged minister in the first martial law cabinet.

Being a thoroughbred political animal, flip-floppy and of little character, he realized where power lay and, despite the fact that it was Iskander who was responsible for his rise, stayed on with Ayub Khan after Iskander was deposed and sent into exile. He ingratiated himself to such an extent that Ayub fondly referred to him as his fifth son.

In 1976, in the fifth year of his rule over what was left of Pakistan, in a note to the chief of army staff on the subject of 'the elevation of General Ayub to the rank of Field Marshal', he claimed full credit for the master-stroke. In 1959, Ayub was apparently worried about the intrigues and ambitions of certain of his generals. It was ZAB who then advised, 'rather cynically' he said in his note, that since it was essential that Ayub be 'head and shoulders above the others' he should elevate his rank to that of Field Marshal, which Ayub Khan did soon after. Proudly he wrote "I am therefore the hero of Ayub Khan's valorous battles. Of course, the object of this note is not to dismantle the man. Some of us can still refer to him with respect. I am only setting the record straight." Hypocrite?

All of this is rather horrid and disgusting.

Now to business at hand. We are in deep mire and sinking deeper by the day. The photographs of our sole allies - blind, hooded, armed, hirsute, fierce - carried in the press are enough to frighten even those with the strongest of nerves. No one who wishes to live in peace and prosperity will consider investing in our country. Without keeping our allies well under wraps, or disassociating ourselves from them, and then reviving the economy we will get nowhere. The main news emanating from and about this country concerns Kashmir, terrorists, Shariah laws, interest-free banking, karo-kari, blasphemy laws - which is all rather deflating and discouraging. Kashmir and all that goes with it should be relegated to the back-burner until we can pull ourselves up.