Of ethics and hypocrisy

In the land of the ‘pure’, hypocrisy reigns supreme. A glaring example of this is Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan’s recent and not-so-recent antics. The law minister was able to get his own high-rise plaza exempted from scrutiny. Not only did he get illegal paper-work done to show his three-storey building as a two-storey building, he also papered over the fact that the building was being used for commercial purposes and was not a residential building as he had claimed in the official documents. Not only is Mr Sanaullah Khan a member of the ruling party in Punjab, the PML-N, he is also the provincial law minister. If the law minister himself is breaking the law, how can the government of Punjab have the moral authority to ask the citizens to follow the rule of law?

With the Punjab chief minister’s drive against ‘illegal buildings’ and the Punjab government on a rampage against high-rise commercial plazas, the omission of Mr Sanaullah’s own property is a grim reminder of the double standards of the powers that be. Many in the PML-N, including the Punjab law minister, have been asking for the resignations of NRO beneficiaries in the federal government despite the fact that no charges have been proved as yet. Is a person not innocent until proven guilty? On the one hand, the PML-N demands resignations of the PPP ministers and on the other hand, one of its own ministers has a prima facie charge against him of manipulating the system. The PML-N should immediately sack the law minister from his post and tear down his illegal plaza. If this is not done, then the Punjab chief minister will not only be complicit in this crime but the ‘Khaadim-e-Aala’ will also lose the trust of the people.

On another note, this is not the first incident of Rana Sanaullah’s law-breaking spree. Just a few days ago when President Zardari was on a visit to Faisalabad, the motorway had been closed for the president’s security. Given the grave terrorist threat, considerable security measures were necessary during his visit to Punjab, barricading the motorway to other travellers until his motorcade had passed Faisalabad being one of them. The Punjab law minister thought nothing of breaching presidential security and broke the barricades in a show of bravado. He also boasted about this ‘heroic’ act on various television channels. Such is the sorry tale of our so-called law minister, who should change his portfolio to Punjab’s ‘law-breaking’ ministry as this attitude of highhandedness and utter disregard for the law does not befit a law minister.

(my editorial in Daily Times)

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Ali khan said…
i like this article...
12:48 pm
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