Matrix Report
Ihsan Ghani, Former IG Police, National Coordinator, NACTA
“I am the elephant in the room. I do not work, I don’t plan to work and I don’t let anyone else work. I hate work, I loathe those who work and I create hurdles for those who try to work. I not only don’t work, I find excuses for not working. I am also good at shirking responsibility. I only work if it is for my own personal gain. I am lazy and I don’t plan to go anywhere.”
The above is my story. I am a politician, I am a bureaucrat, I am a businessman and I am a citizen of this country.
I blame anyone and everyone for my not working. During the local government elections in the Punjab in 2015, it came to light that a large number of persons who were on the Schedule IV of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 (ATA) were elected at various tiers. To ensure that this does not happen in the future, NACTA prepared adequate legislation and forwarded it to the Ministry of Interior for further action. The proposal never saw the light of the day. Instead, we were advised by the big-wigs of the ministry not to raise the issue again.
Whereas I will refrain from commenting on the present status of these public entities and the political leadership, I could say one thing with certainty based on my experience, no one asked me not to work. If there were hurdles in my work, these were because of my own deficiencies, lethargy of my fellow bureaucrats, and lack of political ownership/will to bring a change.
Salman Bashir –Former Ambassador and Foreign Secretary.
Our inability to reform and restore the efficacy of the civil services of Pakistan is the central factor for the deficiency in governance. No serious effort was made during the past several decades to address the inadequacy of public service institutions in coping with the pace of societal changes, wrought by population growth, rapid urbanization, technology, and politics.
The deeply ingrained concept of the civil servants as the ultimate custodians of a rule-based, just, and welfare-oriented society has disintegrated. Political power, derived by any means, can only be effectively exercised by an efficiently functioning civil service, capable of delivering results.
Unfortunately, heads of the executive and judicial organs of state as well as the parliament have neglected these core features of governance. The civil service itself has also failed to innovate and rendered itself irrelevant as far as ordinary citizens and their daily issues are concerned.
If the intent of the parliament is the welfare of the citizens then it would refrain from legislating laws that only further encumber the population. Similarly, the rules of business and methods of work would be simplified and advancements in technology applied to facilitate all aspects of enlightened governance.
In configuring governance, we have somehow stopped applying common sense. Adherence to rituals and lack of focus on results and delivery has transformed civil service into an instrument to perpetuate injustice and exploitation or preserve the status quo. Societies start to unravel when instruments of governance go rogue. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Ijaz Awan –Retired Major General, former Ambassador
Pakistan’s history of political turmoil, slow economy, and dependence on foreign aid/loans is the persistent outcome of inept governance.
Blaming the military regime is fashionable and conveniently ignores the failures of political, democratic regimes, and buttressing the dictators from Ayub to Musharraf. They were running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. Therefore, prevalent political chaos cannot be attributed to a single institution or entity. Politicians and military rulers share the blame for not reforming the state institutions.
The judiciary also failed to impart justice when extra-constitutional measures were taken or state exchequer was plundered with impunity. The law of necessity was preferred over principle judgement when such violations were brought to fore.
Bureaucrats were not far behind, they realigned and leveraged psycho fancy, the sweetest of all poisons, as a ladder for progression. Bureaucracy followed their masters and went overboard to appease the people in power for career progression.
It is thus fair to conclude that it is an offence of collective neglect committed by all those in power. Collective greed, lust for power, money, and influence, coupled with incompetence, is the veritable elephant in the room.
Tariq Iqbal Khan – Former Commissioner SECP, Member CBR, ex-Chairman ISE
When founder of the nation died in 1948, Liaquat Ali Khan was the Prime Minister (PM). When he was assassinated in 1951, Khawaja Nazimuddin became the PM and nominated Ghulam Muhammad as the Governor General.
In 1953, language riots and Tehrik-e-Khatm-e-Nabowat started from Lahore and the Governor General thought it expedient to dismiss the Prime Minister and brought in Mohammed Ali Bogra, who was then Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US. Bogra was anti-communism, pro-US, went out of his way to please the US, and tilted national policies towards it.
These policies caused an imbalance. The dismissal of Nazimuddin started the process where the civil bureaucracy, military, and judiciary jointly charted the path forward. From then on, the elections were no longer in the domain of the civilians.
As they say, the rest is history.
