The Genesis of Corruption in the Sub-Continent
India remained exposed to foreign attacks throughout history. Its geographical location always attracted foreign invaders. In the last 1000 years, numerous dynasties came into power, were gradually weakened, and then replaced by stronger dynasties. Every emperor or ruler of India took advantage of its enormous wealth and resources and left trifles for the local populations. This supports the argument that corruption and abuse of power pervaded in this part of the world since times immemorial, and the people of this region are accustomed to it.
Democracy came in India with the arrival of the British. Initially, they came to India for trading but then started to exert their sway over the political setup. They were economically richer, politically stronger, and scientifically more advanced than the Indians. Soon they succeeded in establishing their hold almost over the whole of the subcontinent. They divided India into numerous petty princely states and managed to make all the princes loyal to the monarch. The Britishers wanted a long-lasting rule over India as it was the jewel in the British crown. They bestowed enormous wealth and privileges on Nawabs, Rajas, and Jagirdars of India so that they could remain loyal to them. This was the time in our history when governance became a game of status, power, and prestige for the ruling gentry. The sophisticated colonial system was, in fact, authoritative and demanding. It rewarded obedience and punished non-compliance. Resultantly, the roots of the aristocracy, power politics, and feudalism went so deep that it became near to impossible to uproot them.
It must be recollected that the army and the civil bureaucracy in British India were the two most crucial institutes of the state. The British East India Company and the English rulers became heavily dependent on these two as they were the trusted, trained, and permanent tools of power in the hands of the British. British India saw development and modernization despite the excessive theft of its wealth. Corruption was existent but it was too scrupulous to be caught. It had absorbed completely into the working of the government. But when Indians saw British officers filling their own pockets, they also started finding adequate means of looting wealth, albeit on a small scale. Many a constitutional reform was introduced before partition by the government, giving more autonomy to the local political bodies. When the British were deeply involved in World Wars, local politicians took full advantage of the situation. In the guise of regional autonomy and independence struggle, opportunist politicians kept on abusing their powers. Hence, corruption had already been institutionalized during the pre-partition decade.
In the post-Pakistan scenario, politics remained a game of the few. Those politicians who were in power in the 1940s clung to it by using all tricks and means at their disposal. During the martial law period, a new breed of politicians was raised in a controlled environment. They were fed by their uniformed godfathers.
When the army seceded the power, these disgruntled politicians became so powerful that their reins became unmanageable and they broke all previous records of corruption and misconduct. They took the wealth of the nation as a state largesse, evaded taxes, expanded their business, and smuggled the looted money to their foreign accounts. Ironically, this was all done under the nose of civil-military bureaucracy.
It is also worth mentioning here that the civil bureaucracy was weakened by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Their constitutional protection was denied in the constitution of 1973. To some, that was a justified step, however, the bureaucracy responded negatively by changing their behavior towards the government. They became partners with the politicians and misused their authority for self-gain.
In the 1980s, the Afghan War occurred. This was a watershed moment in the history of Pakistan. The West was bestowing huge sums of money on Pakistan. The country was a frontline state for the US in such a crucial war which had to decide the fate of the whole region. Pakistan, under the rule of a dictator, was going through a strong social transformation movement of Islamization. This era gave Pakistan numerous unprecedented challenges like sectarianism, guns, drug culture, linguistic riots, religious bigotry, and most importantly, — Corruption. These grave challenges resented the whole nation and it had left with no other option except to forget the corrupt practices of the old politicians and give them another chance to govern the country.
The decade of 1990 was a never-ending period of political turmoil. Four elected governments were overthrown on the charges of incompetency, corruption, and abuse of powers.
The regime of Musharraf also proved to be a misfortune for Pakistan as military officials became so powerful that they had direct control over many important departments of the state. Like Ayub and Zia, Musharraf deployed his hand-picked men in ministries, state departments and there was no one who could challenge or criticize his decisions.
The 18th amendment, passed in 2010 with huge pomp and show, closed the door for any further military ruler. The country’s constitution was thoroughly changed from a semi-presidential to a fully parliamentary one.
Since the fall of Musharraf’s government, this republic has seen two successive democratic governments. This spawns a ray of hope that no dictator will come again, at least in the near future. Still, after the completion of two consecutive democratic dispensations, have we overcome the issue of corruption? Absolutely not!
Both previous governments functioned and ended in a much similar manner. Both governments faced allegations of corruption and plunder. Both governments failed to meet the economic crisis. Both faced huge censure and were disliked by the public in general. Thus, ten years of democracy have also not curbed the menace of corruption. This means that corruption is not only a temporary social malady, but it is, in fact, a part of our decades-long culture. This culture of corruption is least affected by the type of government. The roots of corruption are so deeply embedded in the edifice of our society that they could not be uprooted just by some minor constitutional amendments or changes of governments.
How long would the transformation of our socio-political life take place? This is the real question that needs immediate attention.
In the great game of great power, the system of government hardly matters. Whatever the name of the game be, its rules must be clearly defined. A nation prospers under the shadow of principles and ideologies, regardless of the fact that the preacher of such ideologies is a dictator or an elected head of the state. We require an utmost overhaul of our socio-political life. We must realize that we are neither living in the age of conquests nor under a colonial power. This is the twenty-first century and we are an independent sovereign nation, living in a world of acute conflict and competition. We need to become a respectful and strong nation if we want to survive in this anarchic world. Culture of corruption, although it is very old, needs to be tarnished by radical or revolutionary changes in our socio-political system, lest we should perish as a nation.
Originally published at http://tadbeeer.wordpress.com on July 11, 2019.
