The tragedy of corruption in Pakistan and its lessons

It originally consisted of two parts namely West Pakistan and East Pakistan.

The civil war in the latter area in 1971 ended with East Pakistan seceding from Pakistan and becoming an independent new country called Bangladesh.

As a result of the inward migration of millions of Muslims from India and the outward migration of millions of Hindus and Sikhs, Pakistan’s population is almost 100 percent Muslim.

Despite that, Pakistan’s history since its formation is characterised by political instability and economic problems.

Moreover, Pakistan is notorious for its culture of corruption. In 2017, it was listed by Transparency International (TI) among the five most corrupt countries in Asia.

One important aspect of Pakistani history is the existence of a government bureaucracy which was inherited from the British.

In Britain, this bureaucratic system does not cause problems because of high integrity, trust and transparency among public servants.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said regarding Pakistan and as a result, corruption and abuse of power are rampant, especially among the ruling elites.

An example is the 1970s rule under prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who wanted to stimulate the economy with a nationalisation and agricultural reform program.

Unfortunately, the problem of corruption thwarted his plans as the government machinery was inefficient and any party members used their position and power to enrich themselves.

In July 1977 the military under General Zia ul-Haq took power and declared martial law. Bhutto was arrested and accused of being involved in a criminal conspiracy that led to the murder of a political opponent.

He was found guilty and sentenced to death in April 1979.

Corrupt practices continued under General Zia despite his Islamic credentials.

In 1986, martial law ended and elections were held, which was won by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s daughter Benazir.

Unfortunately, Benazir Bhutto herself was also unable to break free from corrupt practices and was sacked in August 1990.

Nawaz Sharif replaced her after winning elections in 1990. But his government was also tainted by corruption and duly lost the 1993 elections to Bhutto.

Unfortunately, Benazir Bhutto did not abandon the culture of corruption. Evidence showed that her family and friends obtained funds amounting to more than US$1.5 billion through bribes in almost every area of government activity.

As a result of these allegations, Benazir Bhutto was fired by the president and replaced once again by Nawaz Sharif.

In the meantime, Pakistan’s economic situation deteriorated. The high unemployment caused public anger.

The resulting instability gave an opportunity for the Pakistani military led by General Pervez Musharraf to stage a military coup in October 1999. Political freedom and democracy were restricted which served to worsen corruption in the country.

Meanwhile government debt climbed to become the highest in South Asia at 99.3 percent of GDP.

Pakistan’s dependence on external financial assistance, especially from American financial institutions also resulted in Pakistan becoming indebted to the American government.

As a result, it often acquiesced to American demands, including in military matters. This angered conservative groups in Pakistan, some of which decided to resort to violent means, attacking government institutions such as mosques and universities leading to many deadly incidents.

In 2008, Yusuf Raza Gillani became Prime Minister. As expected, his administration also became mired in corrupt practices.

He was later replaced by Pervez Ashraf who lasted less than a year. On January 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered his arrest on corruption charges, and was replaced by Nawaz Sharif who became prime minister for the third time.

By this time the country's debt situation was critical. Nawaz Sharif had to borrow US$6.6 billion from the IMF in 2013 to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt.

In July 2017, he was forced to resign as prime minister again, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that he was corrupt and unfit to hold the post.

In July 2018, Imran Khan won the general election and immediately faced the problem of high external debt.

By 2021, the Pakistan government had doubled its external debt to US$85.6 billion. Pakistan's total debt and liabilities jumped to a record PKR 50.5 trillion at the end of September 2021.

One lesson that can be learned from the political and economic situation of Pakistan is that a country will become weak and chaotic when the problem of corruption is serious.

If society is not sensitive to the problem of usurious government debt, corrupt leaders will abuse their power and increase government expenditures using borrowed money, a portion of which will be channelled into their own pockets or the pockets of their supporters thereby worsening the government debt situation.

If the borrowed funds are from US-controlled institutions such as the IMF, this will increase US influence over national-policy making processes which can in turn give rise to strong resentment towards the government.

Extremist groups may engage in actions that can lead to potentially very violent political atmosphere.

The last lesson is that Muslims need to fully appreciate the teachings of Islam that highlight the importance of integrity, trust and transparency in order to eradicate corruption.

Otherwise they will continue to elect corrupt leaders and the cycle of corruption will never end.