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Essay on Corruption Culture in Pakistan

Outline:
1. Introduction
i. Definition: misuse of power
ii. Scenario of Corruption
2. Types of Corruption:
i. Political Corruption
ii. Data Corruption/ Cyber crime
iii. Linguistic Corruption
3. Incidence of corruption: rare, widespread, and systemic
4. Causes of corruption:
i. Dismal performance of Institutions
ii. Poor governance
iii. Absence of political will.
iv. Lack of effective accountability
v. Meager income
vi. Lack of Transparency
5. Impact of corruption:
i. deteriorating the quality of governance
ii. Moral degeneration
iii. Shambled economy
iv. Retarding Economic growth
v. Increased poverty and inflation
vi. Unemployment
vii. Injustice to people
viii. Widening the gap between rich and poor
6. Remedial Measures
i. Rule of law
ii. Effective accountability
iii. Mass awareness
iv. Adherence to Islamic principles
v. Role of transparency agencies
7. Conclusion

ESSAY
"Corruption is now fashion around the world."
Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power for private gains. It is of different types e.g.
petty, grand and political. The petty corruption is usually linked with the lower salary
employees and generally considered as facilitating payments, whereas, the grand corruption is
associated with the high level bureaucracy. However, the political corruption as name indicates
is related to the politician. They usually involve in this type corruption in order to maintain their
status quo. The corruption varies in the rate of presence, therefore, in this regard the incidence
of corruption may be rare, widespread or systemic. The rare corruption is easy to identify and
control than widespread. Whereas, the systemic corruption becomes a way of life and it is very
difficult to overcome. The corruption is universal, however, its existence varies in rate of
occurrence. Since the inception of Pakistan, the country has witnessed of the rampant
corruption. Many governments in general and the governments in decade of 1990 in particular
has become the victim of the widespread corruption and corrupt practices. In a recent survey
conducted by the Transparency International, Pakistan ranks lowered from sixth most corrupt
country in the world.
Islam explicitly condemns the existence of corruption in every form. Hazart Muhammad
(PBUH) declared that:
“Damned is the bribe giver (or corruptor)-the bribe taker (the corrupted) and he who
goes between them.”

Prof. Abdul Rauf, FG Degree College for Women, Multan Cantt.

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The root causes of the rampant corruption in the country are lack of effective
accountability, poor performance on the part of respective institutions, unchecked and
unlimited power of feudal for their vested interests. The presence of corruption and corrupt
practices play a pivotal role to deteriorate law and order; shackle the economy, which leads to
the inflation, unemployment and poverty in the country. Its presence distracts a man from
ethics, humanely attitude, tradition and civic laws. The pervasive corruption in the country can
be checked by applying certain measures. The government should ascertain the rule of law; it
means equal application of law, equal protection by the law and equality before law, effective
and impartial accountability, active role of media to eradicate the corruption are the few
factors which can play an active role to diminish the corruption.
‘’Corruption is authority plus monopoly minus transparency.”​-F.Scott Fitzgerald
The word corruption is derived from the Latin word corruptus means to break. In simple
words the corruption is defined as the misuse of delegated power for private/personal gains.
National anti-corruption strategy (NACS) has defined the corruption as:
“A behavior on the part of the office holder in the public or private sector whereby they
improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves or those close to them or induce others to do so, by
misgiving the position in which they are placed”.
Conceptually it is a behavior, which distracts a person from ethics, morality tradition, law and
civic virtues. The corruption is of various types. It is a petty, grand or political.
The petty corruption is linked to the low salaried employees. This type of corruption usually
exists to fast track the administrative bureautic procedure and regulations. Therefore, it is
generally referred as ‘facilitating payments’. The general perception about this kind of
corruption is that people indulge in order to meet their living expenses. Thus the need a reason
is applied to this form of corruption. The grand type of corruption is associated with high level
bureaucracy. The greed and lust for power is the main factors behind this type of corruption.
The political corruption is related to politicians. The expensive election campaigns, dispense the
political favor from the colleagues and to keep the sub-ordinates happy, cooperative and loyal,
and lust for power is few factors which inspire the politicians for corruption.  ​Linguistic
corruption refers to change within a language that leads to its degradation. Data corruption
This type of corruption appears when a person somehow damages computer data, either
intentionally or unintentionally. It is also termed as Cyber Crime. It is a serious issue in our
modern world.
The incidence of corruption varies in rate of existence in society. It may be rare, widespread
and systemic. The corruption, which is not deeply rooted in the entire edifice of the
government, is known as rare corruption. Further, it is easy to detect and control, and the
culprit can easily be punished, whereas, the corruption that is permeated in all the sphere of
life is called as widespread corruption, and it is difficult to detect and control. However, in case
of systemic corruption, it becomes the way of life and it is very difficult to overcome. In
Pakistan the prevalent corruption is perceived as widespread and systemic. It has deeply
ingrained in society and government at all levels. Islam is the religion of high values and ethics
and strongly condemns the corruption in all its forms.
Islam provides complete code of life. It is replete with moral standards, ethics, values
and norms of behavior, which facilitates the Muslims to run the daily affairs of personal,
professional and business life in more disciplined way. Islam condemns the corruption in it's
every form i.e. bribery, unlawful hoarding and earning, extortion, embezzlement. Hazart
Muhammad (PBUH) said about the hoarding;
“Whoever withholds cereals that may become scarce and dear is a sinner” (Mishkat-12:8)
Furthermore, Islam lays great importance on the lawful earning. Hazart Muhammad said in this
context;
“Earning of lawful livelihood is a duty only next to importance to the duty (of prayers)”
Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the staunch opponent of the corruption. He
advocated the policy of strict action against the corruption doer. In this regard, he said that;
“One of the biggest curses is the bribery and corruption. That’s really is a poison, we must put it
down with iron hand”

Prof. Abdul Rauf, FG Degree College for Women, Multan Cantt.

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The corruption is perceived as universal. It exists in all countries i.e. developed and
developing, in all sectors i.e. public and private, autonomous or semi-autonomous as well as in
non-profit and charitable organization, however, it varies in magnitude and frequency. In some
countries it is infused in lesser scale than the other countries. In Pakistan the corruption has
become systemic on large scale. Pakistan has remained the prey of corruption since its
inception, despite that fact that Quaid-iAzam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder as well as the
first Governor General of Pakistan denounced the existence the corruption. Therefore, due to
the continuity of corruption it has become the way of life now. In a country over a period of
years particularly during 1990’s many government became the victims of the rampant
corruption. In a recent report presented by Transparency International, Pakistan’s corruption
perception index declined to 2.3 in 2010 against 2.4 in 2009 and out of 178 counties, its ranking
as most corrupt country jumped from 42 in 2009 to 34 in 2010. There are several factors
responsible for the existence of prevalent corruption in the country.
"Corruption is the destroyer of individuals as well as societies."
Corruption can take different forms, such as:
● Bribery – the act of receiving money or other valuable things in exchange for using
power or influence in an illegal way
● Graft – the use of power or influence for personal purposes
● Extortion – the use of threats or violence to get some benefit
● Kickback – the act of paying commission to a bribe-taker for some service
● Cronyism – the assignment of unqualified friends or relatives to positions
● Embezzlement – theft of government’s money.
The major factors are responsible for the pervasive corruption in the country is the poor
governance on and the dismal performance on the part of institutions. It is a fact of matter that
the very foundation of any institution lays in the process of appointment. If such process is
carried out transparently, the institution becomes the model of efficiency and performance.
However, in Pakistan the appointments are being made because of favoritism and nepotism at
a great extent. Therefore, the development and innovation in these institutions remain
stagnant; rather these become the hub of politics. Consequently, the institutions become the
burden on the country’s exchequer. In Pakistan there are many profit-earning institutions which
have been running in a loss during many years. These include; steel Mill, Pakistan Railway,
Wapda, etc. Though the governments have made efforts for handling the corruption like
Pakistan penal code of 1960, the prevention of corruption Act of 1947, and the National
Accountability Ordinance, however, these efforts remain elusive on the side of implementation
due to absence of a political will to carry out this gigantic task. Mr. Shoukat Ali Tarin, former
Finance Minister publicly acknowledged and pointed out about the existence of 500 billion
rupee corruption in Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), tax-collecting institution. However, the
government does not seem to take any strong measures to nip the corruption in the bud.
Other factor conducive to such a rampant corruption in a country is the meager income of the
employees. The minimum wages set by the government, and salaries given to lower grade
employees do not keep the body and soul together. The government increases pay at once in a
year, however, the prices of consumer goods soar on the daily basis. In a recent year it is
recorded that the prices rose on 18 months high. Pays and prices tend the employees to the
corruption to make both ends meet. This gap in the prices and pays engender the corruption.
The presence of corruption a country has extensively and devastating effect on society and
country. The existence of corruption weakened the very foundation of society and country.
"It is a universal truth that the corrupt have no morals."
The presence of corruption and corrupt practices in a society distract a man from ethics,
humanely attitude, tradition, civics and laws. It degrades the morality of the people which leads
to violence or dissension among the people. It deteriorates the quality of governance. The
corruption and corrupt practices are indicative of breaches in the governance edifice. They pose
serious threats to the sanctity of ethical and democratic values and weaken the administrative,
social and political institutions. Looking at the present state of our country, we can say that
there is rule of corruption in public life.
"Power corrupts man, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Prof. Abdul Rauf, FG Degree College for Women, Multan Cantt.

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The economic reform in a country demands greater transparency, accountability, free and
fair competition, however, the corruption and corrupt practices place restraint on the country’s
capacity to undertake economic reforms and make some substantial progress in the
development of a country. Corruption has also adverse impact on the private investment. This
impact on the economy leads to inflation and unemployment in the country. We can witness
the direct impact of corruption in Pakistan in the rise of food commodities. It plays significant
role in widening the gap between the rich and poor. We cannot eradicate pervasive corruption
in a day. However, it requires well-woven plan along with effective implementation.
Government is required to ensure the rule of law in a strict sense. The law of rule means
equal application of law, equal protection by law, and equality before law. Without rule of law,
the institutions get weak and become hatcheries of corrupt practices. The government must
provide the effective mechanism for implementation of rule of law without any discrimination.
The application of rule of law in a letter and spirit requires political will to carry out such a
colossal task to eradicate the corruption. The government has already made serious efforts to
combat the scourge of corruption. However, all these efforts are in vain due to the absence of
political will. Once the people are convinced that the government is serious about fighting the
corruption, they will provide their support in resolving the problem. A publicity campaign to
create awareness among the people on the adverse effects of corruption is indispensible to
combat the corruption. A responsible press to gather, analyze, organize and disseminate the
information is vital to create the great public awareness and to provide the impetus for
undertaking reforms to overcome the corruption.
Moreover, Islam obviously condemns the corruption and provides means and
mechanism to curb the corruption. Therefore, the corruption may be eradicated on adherence
to Islamic teaching. Corruption is a symptom of deep-seated and fundamental economic,
political and institutional weaknesses and shortcomings in a country. It has severally affected
the state of governance, has shackled the economy, and has distracted the man from ethics,
humanely attitude, tradition, civics and laws. To be effective, measures against corruption must
therefore address these underlying causes and not the symptoms. Government must ensure
the rule of law and impartial accountability. Media also plays significant role in creating the
awareness among masses and government plan to curb the pervasive corruption with an iron
hand.
"It seems very difficult to control corruption but it is not impossible."

Prof. Abdul Rauf, FG Degree College for Women, Multan Cantt.