Pakistan’s economic crisis continuously worsens as the ruthless waves of inflation, energy price hikes and volatility of the currency have made new records in the country’s history. The interim rulers have expressed utmost patriotism and sympathy with the country and its poor masses, vowing to tackle all economic and security challenges through courage and sagacity.
Interestingly, the non-elected leaders who reached high offices due to nepotism, have adopted kingly habits and are currently busy in image building at public expense. Punjab caretaker government is mercilessly using public money on irrelevant accounts such as the renovation of religious shrines, up-gradation of public graveyards, and construction of roads and streets that might serve their political motives but do not fall in the domain of interim rulers.
The Punjab caretakers’ government has recently approved a case for interest-free loans of millions to 11 judges of the Lahore High Court for personal purposes, which has shored up utmost public uproar against the incumbent rulers. Almost the same kind of governance and self-aimed rules flourish in the centre as well as in other provinces of the country.
Realistically, unethical and politically motivated governance had always been a major issue in the country, which not only wasted the national resources but proved to be counterproductive and ended up in further degradation of the nation.
A majority of the mega development projects, energy generation, Special industrial zones, construction of airports and initiation or closure of air flight or railway routes had always been decided on political grounds which met failures and ended in a loss to the state and the institution. Due to those reasons, green cultivated land turned barren and state-owned entities were shut down to facilitate private businesses, IPPs, airlines and private cargo services, whereas hundreds of thousands of government employees, vast infrastructure and machinery became a liability for the government.
Constitutionally, the caretaker setup had always a thin mandate, a mere supervisory or oversight role by the appointed non-elected leaders to impartially sail the country through the election period. However, such highly sensitive national responsibility has now become a lucrative opportunity for the individuals who exponentially invested and lobbied for powerful quarters to ultimately receive reward for the spoonerism.
Unfortunately, the conduct of the highly privileged adjudicators was also highly condemn-able who regularly receive hefty payments, bulk of allowances along with countless incentives from the government and even then demand extra ordinary favour from the government which otherwise was not available to common citizens. Currently, the government has imposed about 20-25% interests on loans for the public while the top judges claim exemption from the law that does not suit their stature. In fact, such practice is against the law and code of conduct of the judges also amounted to discrimination and inequality.
In the prevailing situations,when the people of Pakistan are embattled with high inflation and serious economic crises, the Punjab government must withdraw its proposed order which authorises free of interest loan to a few judges and must review its polices of appeasment and nepotism.
Meanwhile the apex court must take notice of the issue by advising learned judges to maintain sanctity of their profession and autonomy of their institution which seriously undermines through examptions that are not available to others members of the society. Realistically, Pakistan could not progress, until and unless, our leaders and bureaucrats learn to live in their coats and observe honesty in public and governmental affairs.
