Huzaima Bukhari
“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to”—Dorothy Parker
Everyone and everything have two sides, one negative and the other positive. The intelligent ones extract goodness to make their own and other people’s lives pleasurable while ones who are not ethically inclined place their reliance on counter effects thus putting many at risk. Interestingly, the latter may appear to do numerous beneficial deeds for which many would like to forgive them, but underlying intention goes to tarnish their fake exterior, subsequently exposing their true self.
Access to resources has always been a central factor for human beings who pursue the means to gather more and more wealth. They strive for abundance to lead a life that is comfortable in most cases and luxurious in some, but reality is that with the exception of a few, majority would love to roll in affluence. For this purpose, efforts are made to either earn or extort money although many would opine that making money is not their goal in life, yet it all boils down to compensation for goods and services rendered. The concept of money is so embedded in the minds of people that almost everything is weighed based on its price. For example: “a million-dollar view.”
There is nothing wrong nor sinful about money or its importance because it is a vital element of our lives giving us tremendous leverage over those who must run from pillar to post for their basic needs. In the face of a crisis requiring financial help, money is power that helps to maintain self-respect. Money allows the generous to extend their hand to the desperate and the impoverished.
With all its advantages, Roy T. Bennett says: “Top 15 things money can’t buy. Time, happiness, inner peace, integrity, love, character, manners, health, respect, morals, trust, patience, class, common sense, dignity”, and a piece of advice from Edmund Burke: “If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed”.
These last few weeks have been especially confusing for Pakistanis as they observe squabbles on mass and social media over money matters pertaining to an infamous rags-to-riches business tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain (now an absconder, according to National Accountability Bureau), and his romancing episodes with the bigwigs in power and other spheres of life. In his early years, he learnt the meaning of “money makes the mare go” and that secret of success lay in his ability to purchase anyone who tried to place obstacles in his path. From his helplessness in acquiring a bottle of cough syrup for his ailing child to capturing the mighty and influential with his cheap tactics, he has proved beyond any iota of doubt the strength which is hidden in wealth and banknotes.
Bribery, a term that is publicly detested but practically adored, is becoming the hallmark of our society. Officials and public figures sitting on various seats of governments (federal and provincial) refuse to budge an inch unless their palms are greased. Whether it is the non-gazetted staff or the mainstream officers, majority await some kind of a push (monetary or otherwise) to make them do their work. “Paid not to work and work when bribed”. Ask the common folk and they will readily tell you how through cash disbursements, they were able to get their files on extremely petty matters moving from one desk to another. Their heads may refute these allegations but denying does not imply that this malaise is not in existence.
Malik Riaz understood that if he wanted to become the richest man in Pakistan, he would have to resort to bribery, kickbacks, favouritism, extortion, campaign contributions or any other form of pleasing the powerful to influence their decisions for outcomes advantageous to him.
Malik Riaz and others like him have managed to spread a net of corruption in a manner that has, in the long run, shaken the very foundations of this country and its democratic process. Throughout these periods of corrupt practices, the authorities have remained silent spectators for “reasons” best known to them and when crisis upon crisis hit the billionaire, they suddenly sprung into action in a bid to overturn decades long efforts of development.
Interestingly, malice of NAB authorities towards Malik Riaz has reached such a limit that they are discouraging people from investing in his projects in the Middle East on the pretext that this action would tantamount to money laundering which is absolutely incomprehensible even from a legal point of view.
Where were they when officials and journalists were being pampered and bought by Malik Riaz as he made inroads into the real estate of Pakistan?
Why did they not realize that this process of bribery undermines the principle of fair and transparent government prejudicial to the interests of the wealthy?
Why was economic damage never considered knowing that corruption can cause inflated costs in public projects permitting unfair advantages for certain businesses?
Why were peculiar conditions of the marginalized communities who lack resources to influence, never taken into account when corruption was at its peak?
Without mincing words, one can confidently say that money is both a blessing when the benevolent possesses it and the biggest curse when it finds its way in the wrong hands. Where anti-corruption laws are weak and enforcement mechanisms are controlled by corrupt officials, there can hardly be any possibility of redemption.
No matter the amount of stress that thoughtful thinkers and writers are putting in implementing strict transparent measures, especially with respect to public disclosure of government contracts, financial statements and official interactions to enhance accountability, the more secrecy is gaining impetus. Institutions that are supposed to oversee corrupt activities are fast losing their credibility when scandals as that of Malik Riaz surface.
With dearth of basic educational facilities at grassroot level, how can one insist on teaching ethics to the younger generation that would eventually go on to take over governance and how can one expect ethics to be part of the lives of children nurtured in the arms of unethical elders? Indeed, lust of money and corruption as its consequence has seeped into the bloodstream of our nation like leukemia. If timely steps are not taken to contain this disease, then we are definitely on a suicidal mission,
________________________________________________________________________The writer, lawyer and author, is an Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), member Advisory Board and Senior Visiting Fellow of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)