THE killing of Mullah Akhtar Mansour by a US drone within our territory has become an embarrassment for the political elite and the establishment. Perhaps it’s time we set our own house in order. The foremost requirement is that our decision-makers have undivided loyalty to Pakistan, with no conflicts of interest; they must come clean and formulate policies through collective brainstorming on the part of men with vision, intellect, knowledge and ethics.

There have been too many violations of our sovereignty, mostly with the consent of self-assumed protectors of the national interest. Allama Iqbal once stated: “Ever since their political fall, the Mussulmans of India have undergone a rapid ethical deterioration. Of all the Muslim communities of the world, they are probably the meanest in point of character.” Strong words indeed, but very close to the bitter truth.

Other than greed or lust for power, there can be no justification for offering sanctuary to foreign fighters; by Ziaul Haq in fighting a proxy war which we should never have been involved in; or the manner in which Gen Musharraf offered bases for drones to mount attacks and his self-confessed action of handing over citizens for bounty; or the shameless manner in which criminals were allowed to enter and depart Pakistan.

How can state sovereignty be entrusted to the hands of men whose children either hold foreign nationalities or permanent residential status, with vast assets, making them vulnerable to foreign pressures and blackmail?

Sovereignty, like modesty, cannot be offered for short-term gains by individuals with myopic vision, otherwise it will be taken for granted by foreign countries. If truckloads of smuggled Iranian gasoline can enter through numerous border checkposts, so can weapons, terrorists and criminals.

Ali Malik Tariq
Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2016