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Thieves Rule India and Pakistan

RiazHaq

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When Asif Ali Zardari became president of Pakistan, I was reminded of the famous ancient philosopher Aesop who is quoted to have said, "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to high office". While Zardari's rise from a convict in Swiss corruption case to the highest office in the land of his birth is among the most egregious, it is by no means unique. There are many examples of kleptocracy in Pakistan's neighborhood, as recently outlined in a piece by Mohan Murti, former Europe Director of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), published by the Hindu. Here are some excerpts from it:

It is a fact that the problem of corruption in India has assumed enormous and embarrassing proportions in recent years, although it has been with us for decades.

In a popular prime-time television discussion in Germany, the panelist, a member of the German Parliament quoting a blog said: “If all the scams of the last five years are added up, they are likely to rival and exceed the British colonial loot of India of about a trillion dollars.”

One German business daily which wrote an editorial on India said: “India is becoming a Banana Republic instead of being an economic superpower. To get the cut motion designated out, assurances are made to political allies. Special treatment is promised at the expense of the people. So, Ms Mayawati who is Chief Minister of the most densely inhabited state, is calmed when an intelligence agency probe is scrapped. The multi-million dollars fodder scam by another former chief minister wielding enormous power is put in cold storage. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chairs over this kind of unparalleled loot.”

An article in a French newspaper titled “Playing the Game, Indian Style” wrote: “Investigations into the shadowy financial deals of the Indian cricket league have revealed a web of transactions across tax havens like Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, Mauritius and Cyprus.” In the same article, the name of one Hassan Ali of Pune is mentioned as operating with his wife a one-billion-dollar illegal Swiss account with “sanction of the Indian regime”.

A third story narrated in the damaging article is that of the former chief minister of Jharkhand, Madhu Koda, who was reported to have funds in various tax havens that were partly used to buy mines in Liberia. “Unfortunately, the Indian public do not know the status of that inquiry,” the article concluded.

“In the nastiest business scam in Indian records (Satyam) the government adroitly covered up the political aspects of the swindle — predominantly involving real estate,” wrote an Austrian newspaper. “If the Indian Prime Minister knows nothing about these scandals, he is ignorant of ground realities and does not deserve to be Prime Minister. If he does, is he a collaborator in crime?”

The Telegraph of the UK reported the 2G scam saying: “Naturally, India's elephantine legal system will ensure culpability, is delayed.”

This seems true. In the European mind, caricature of a typical Indian encompasses qualities of falsification, telling lies, being fraudulent, dishonest, corrupt, arrogant, boastful, speaking loudly and bothering others in public places or, while traveling, swindling when the slightest of opportunity arises and spreading rumors about others. The list is truly incessant.

My father, who is 81 years old, is utterly frustrated, shocked and disgruntled with whatever is happening and said in a recent discussion that our country's motto should truly be Asatyameva Jayete.

Europeans believe that Indian leaders in politics and business are so blissfully blinded by the new, sometimes ill-gotten, wealth and deceit that they are living in defiance, insolence and denial to comprehend that the day will come, sooner than later, when the have-nots would hit the streets.

In a way, it seems to have already started with the monstrous and grotesque acts of the Maoists. And, when that rot occurs, not one political turncoat will escape being lynched.

The drumbeats for these rebellions are going to get louder and louder as our leaders refuse to listen to the voices of the people. Eventually, it will lead to a revolution that will spill to streets across the whole of India, I fear.

Perhaps we are the architects of our own misfortune. It is our sab chalta hai (everything goes) attitude that has allowed people to mislead us with impunity. No wonder Aesop said. “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to high office.”


Haq's Musings: We Hang the Petty Thieves and Appoint the Great Ones to High Office.
 
In short:

Pakistan has thieves at the high levels while India has thieves at the low levels.

Riiighhht?
 
Bangladesh too... Sadly we're all on the same boat. But hey, I hear sailing is great during this time of the year. ;)
 
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More than 25 years after the Bhopal gas leak killed and injured tens of thousands of people while they slept, an Indian court has finally convicted seven former managers at the plant.

They have received minor fines and brief prison sentences.

It's clearly a case of too little, too late, and symptomatic of India's failed judiciary and failed democracy.

It's the same judiciary that lets corrupt politicians to continue to occupy positions of power for decades while their cases and appeals remain pending.

Contrast the Bhopal gas leak with the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico where less than a dozen people died.

The US government has already forced BP to set up an escrow fund of $20 billion to compensate for potential losses to the people in the Gulf region from loss of earnings.

Haq's Musings: Bhopal's 1984 Gas Leak Victims Remembered
 
More than 25 years after the Bhopal gas leak killed and injured tens of thousands of people while they slept, an Indian court has finally convicted seven former managers at the plant.

They have received minor fines and brief prison sentences.

It's clearly a case of too little, too late, and symptomatic of India's failed judiciary and failed democracy.

It's the same judiciary that lets corrupt politicians to continue to occupy positions of power for decades while their cases and appeals remain pending.

Contrast the Bhopal gas leak with the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico where less than a dozen people died.

The US government has already forced BP to set up an escrow fund of $20 billion to compensate for potential losses to the people in the Gulf region from loss of earnings.

Haq's Musings: Bhopal's 1984 Gas Leak Victims Remembered

Power corrupts all. Zardadri was not corrupted from the day he was born. But yes after coming to power and also true about Indian politicaians. Those bloodsuckers had never seen anything in life b4 coming to power but once they get it, they are so corrupted that they can even sell their own country.

This is why we are third world countries. The world wants us to fight so that they can live in peace.
 
In short:

Pakistan has thieves at the high levels while India has thieves at the low levels.

Riiighhht?

ur WRONG brother.... At all levels we have THIEVES...
but one thing thats unique to India is that these thieves are development minded kickback fellas,For these people to thrive they need development..and thr political families who put all their chamachas in top positions.
 
Pakistan under the military rule was equally bad if not worse - check the transperancy international's corruption perception index. Why bad name Zardari? How can he be better than the people he rules?

2009 India 84 Pakistan 139
2008 India 85 Pakistan 134
2007 India 72 Pakistan 138
2006 India 70 Pakistan 142
2005 India 88 Pakistan 144
 
It all boils down to the question that are we fit or capable of governing ourselves ?

S Asia has developed ( for what ever it is worth) more by accident than design or intent. Private players have done a better job than Govt agencies.

The key is accountability.
 
Pakistan under the military rule was equally bad if not worse - check the transperancy international's corruption perception index. Why bad name Zardari? How can he be better than the people he rules?

2009 India 84 Pakistan 139
2008 India 85 Pakistan 134
2007 India 72 Pakistan 138
2006 India 70 Pakistan 142
2005 India 88 Pakistan 144

The actual trends and details of corruption are much more revealing than just the overall ranking.

KARACHI: The overall corruption has increased by around Rs28 billion in a year, and more than 70 per cent of Pakistanis say the present government is more corrupt than the previous one, said a Transparency International Pakistan official.

Releasing the findings of the National Corruption Perception Survey 2010 at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, TIP chief Adil Gillani said that over Rs195 was misappropriated during 2009 while more than Rs223 billion — an increase of Rs28 billion, or about 15 per cent — has been misappropriated during 2010.

He said the survey — jointly financed by the USAID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation — reveals the perception levels and frequency of corruption faced by the common Pakistanis on a daily basis.

He said an average expenditure on bribery per household this year was Rs10,537, based on a population of over 169.58 million and eight members per family, the cost of bribery comes to Rs223 billion.

Mr Gillani said the departments of police and the power sector had retained their first and second positions, respectively, since 2002. Other corrupt sectors during 2010 were the land administration, education, local government, judiciary, health, taxation, customs and tendering and contracting.

Pakistan at 42nd position

He said Pakistan shared the 42nd position among the most corrupt countries in the world with Bangladesh. India, though located in between and despite being more populous, was less corrupt than both its neighbours and was placed on the 95th position on the chart of corruption.

He said the TIP had developed a 24-page questioner that was put to 5,200 people from all the four provinces. Students of the Institute of Business Administration Karachi carried out the survey in Sindh; Gujranwala University, Gomal University and Sarhad University carried out the survey in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, respectively.

He said the survey found that only the present Punjab government was cleaner than the previous one, while the rest of the governments — federal and three provincial ones — were considered to be more corrupt than their predecessors. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was the most corrupt of the provincial governments, he said.

The TIP chief said the credibility of the country was at the lowest level as almost no funding had been released in the last two years from the Friends of Pakistan fund being managed by the World Bank.

He said that a tainted tendering process ate up almost 40 per cent of the development funds. Citing an example, he said that owing to a transparent tendering process and following the Public Procurement Rules, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan had given transport tenders at 40 per cent lower than the last year’s rates.

Mr Gillani said that if corruption were effectively checked, there would be no need to seek international loans that usually come with humiliating strings attached as the country would be saving hundreds of billions of rupees. He also quoted former prime minister Shaukat Aziz as saying that the FBR staff ate up over Rs500 billion a year.

He urged parliament to pass the Independent Accountability Commission Act so that crooks could be taken to task. He said the country had ratified the United Nations Charter against Corruption in August 2007 and it had formulated laws accordingly.

He said the survey had also revealed that people thought an independent media had played a leading role in exposing corrupt practices of the government.

Mr Gillani said a lack of accountability and merit, and low salaries were three of the main reasons of corruption. He said retired civil servants should not be rehired or given extensions, nor retired armed forces officials be taken as civil servants.

He said promotions from Grade 20 and upwards be done through the public service commission and not by the executive. He demanded that the judiciary and armed forces should also be brought under the accountability check.

DAWN.COM | Local | Pakistan far ahead of India, in corruption
 
AoA
Corruption is a reflection of the society we have in south asia. As far as pakistan is concerned Zardari is just a reflection of us as pakistani's in general. Replace him with somebody else, may not be 10% but wo'nt be 0% either.The whole system is corrupt from politican's to military to bureaucracy.
 
AoA
Corruption is a reflection of the society we have in south asia. As far as pakistan is concerned Zardari is just a reflection of us as pakistani's in general. Replace him with somebody else, may not be 10% but wo'nt be 0% either.The whole system is corrupt from politican's to military to bureaucracy.

Corruption exists to varying degrees in almost all societies. If you believe the TI rankings, Pakistan is the 42nd most corrupt nation in the world, and has gotten worse in the last two years under the PPP government.

What hurts Pakistan more than corruption is the sheer incompetence of its current leadership that is reflected in significant deterioration of Pakistan's economy.

Since the beginning of Pakistan's existence as an independent nation in 1947, there has been constant repetition of slogans about piety and honesty by invoking the name of Islam, and its early legendary leaders, particularly great Caliphs like Omar. What is often overlooked is that Caliph Omar was not just impeccably honest; the key reason for his tremendous success as a great leader and highly respected ruler was his extraordinary competence in governance. Can we find a leader like Caliph Omar today? I think it's highly unlikely. However, I do think it is possible to find people who are reasonably competent amongst Pakistanis to help lead the nation to a better future.

Looking around at the recent history of successful leaders in the Islamic world, like Malaysia's Mahathir Mohammad and Indonesia's Suharto, there have been serious allegations of corruption and abuse of power against them. And yet, it is their sufficient competence in delivering good governance to their people that has brought great economic success and remarkable human development to their nations, and ultimately a greater measure of competent democratic governance to their highly literate electorates.

Beyond the Islamic world, there are various levels of corruption found in both developed and developing nations. But many of them have made significant strides in recent years, mainly because the leaders whom they have elected have been far more competent those in Pakistan. Even in Pakistan, whenever the military rulers have brought in technocrats and professionals to help develop and execute good policies, there have been periods of rapid growth. It is their competence, not their unassailable honesty, that has helped them deliver significant economic growth.

Pakistan's average economic growth rate was 6.8% in the 60s (Gen. Ayub Khan), 4.5% in the 70s(Zulfikar Bhutto), 6.5% in the 80s (Gen. Zia ul-Haq), and 4.8% in the 90s (Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif). Growth picked up momentum in the 21st Century under General Musharraf, and from 2000-2007, Pakistan's economy grew at an average 7.5%, making it the third fastest growing economy in Asia after China and India. There were 2-3 million new jobs created each year from 2000-2007, which significantly enlarged the middle class, and helped millions escape poverty.

Unfortunately, there is a troubling history of the democratic process in Pakistan resulting the election of leaders who are demonstrably both corrupt and incompetent. After surviving the lost decade of the 1990s under such leaders, and then thriving in this decade under a more competent dictator until 2007, Pakistan has once again returned to the bad old days of the 1990s. The economy is stagnating, inflation is high, there are shortages of everything from food to water and power and security, unemployment is rising, and many are slipping back into poverty.

Haq's Musings: Incompetence Worse Than Graft in Pakistan
 
We let them rule ................
At time of vote we will see whether candidate is from our region or from our community but we will ignore what he did for community and region. Most of prominent politician's constituency is rather backward or majority of people belongs to his community (still backward) or he has native place in that region (Still he lives in multimillion rupee house in some metro city).

FYI: This is applicable to entire South Asia.
 
, I was reminded of the famous ancient philosopher Aesop who is quoted to have said, "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to high office".


Quote of the day but its not just India and Pakistan, happens all over the world.
 
Bangladesh too... Sadly we're all on the same boat. But hey, I hear sailing is great during this time of the year. ;)

for bangal and pakistan esp two were same remember lol

india is going not too bad though
 

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