Moral standards
The political leadership of any country must be individually and collectively imbued with a strong sense of purpose and must live (and die) with the courage of their convictions, to the extent of publicly stamping out malfeasance within their own ranks. Activists within the political parties most keep their own leadership in check. One of the recurring claims made by the accused in their defence at the Nuremberg Trials post-World War 2 was that they were only obeying orders emanating from the highest authority. Representing the creme de la creme of Nazi Germany, their submissions were struck down on the premise that they should not have become party to any such actions that they knew to be universally and morally wrong. Being senior military and civilian officers the judges held that their duty was to the state rather to any individual and they were duty bound to oppose any instructions, especially those that were repugnant to society, this opposition to be registered at the very least by simply resigning rather than carry them out. Given a war situation and when fighting for one’s country where does one draw a line, when any refusal or opposition to orders carries a short shrift? On the other hand, it is also true that if some in the higher echelons had shown guts instead of outright and grovelling sycophancy, some of the worst excesses could have been avoided. Only people with extraordinary courage of conviction can stand up and be counted during wartime. Edmunde Burke had said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.
The same standards cannot be applied down the line to lower state functionaries who, except for the most obvious criminal instructions, cannot start debating the issues, this would result in the functions of government to grind to a complete halt. Similarly, institutions like the Defence Services that depend upon absolute obedience to orders given cannot afford the luxury of having individuals down the line protest orders except those that are totally inhuman. In the course of one’s duties during wartime, unarmed civilians may come in the way, their injuries or deaths is a hard fact of life. There are many instances of soldiers having gone with their conscience however, showing outstanding bravery in standing up for humanity, even at the peril of their lives — and their honour.
Peacetime is another matter, routine instructions which may not be lawful must be protested in the time-honoured bureaucratic method of writing a dissenting note with as much emphasis as possible. If a protest is not lodged then the person who acquiesces becomes an accessory to the malfeasance or misdemeanour and he (or she) must not go unpunished whatever the extenuating circumstances. It has become an easy escape to lay the blame for every guilt at the doorstep of the superior, no one can get away circumventing or breaking the law without the willing collaboration of his (and her) colleagues or subordinates. They are as much guilty as the perpetrators of the crime, one cannot be judged as only being an accessory, a higher discipline demands the most superior standards of conduct from them, any collaboration is unbecoming of their administrative station and training. Very few instances of corruption or nepotism can avoid detection, the system may be incomplete in many respects, it still has the necessary checks and balances to trap malfeasance. Someone somewhere will certainly know!
The national media has an exceedingly important role to play in ensuring that state functionaries do not forget the responsibilities of the trust imposed by their position in government. Over the years because of dictatorial suppression and lack of freedom, the media is still not capable of conducting honest investigative reporting in an objective manner, the approach is rather sensational and skimpy. With honourable exceptions, headlines last only for a few days. Because economically speaking journalism is not a lucrative profession in Pakistan, the journalists cannot be expected to have totally independent views or to remain free of bias, with the result that they are subjected to enormous economic pressures from different quarters of motivated interest, sometimes even resorting to a conspiracy of silence. This results in a slanted news coverage and analysis, almost always one-sided, rarely even-handed. Most subject treatment may thus be covered by criticism only, seldom being solution-oriented. It is also a pathetic sight to see the once torch-bearers of freedom of information now obsessed with inventing means (and justifying them) for curbing the independence of the media, a singular deficiency of moral values in the ascent to high office, the utter lack of courage of one’s conviction. When articulate and intelligent persons of known calibre dump their conscience and join the system, we have come to a sorry pass! Soon as they are removed from office, most of them rediscover their stated moral standards.
Most pathetic are those that lay claim to credibility built on a false sense of righteousness, those individuals who on oath swore that they were not guilty to the charges laid at their doorstep, albeit for an “honourable crime”. Subsequently they basked in the glory of having had the courage of being recalcitrants, the false oaths being forgotten at the altar of convenience. In a Catch-22 situation, they have again come a full circle, such are the changeable faces of honour and yet anyone who stood up for what he or she genuinely believed in was (and is still) reviled and vilified because it did not agree with the then prevailing concept of honour. Who has the moral courage and who doesn’t?
In public life, one has to compromise with many principles, some even with their conscience to remain on top in the political power game. Yet it is precisely here that we need men and women with a strong sense of moral values, of distinguishing what is right from wrong, a Truman-esque approach if you will. The economic well being of the nation depends upon the honest people in the system objecting to blatant nepotism and corruption. Though politics demands that you almost never own up to mistakes (or malfeasance), the developed world has refined the process by inventing “The Fall Guy”, Col North even looks eerily like Lee Majors of the TV series.
In the third world loyalties are as changeable as Chameleon and very few individuals can stand up to repression for their beliefs and convictions. To the credit of tens of dozens of supporters of Ms Benazir, they resorted to vehement protests during the last Martial Law, undergoing whipping and enduring long prison sentences. Whether they were right or wrong is not in question, they had the courage of their convictions in the face of utter adversity to register their dissent. The moral courage of those who actually underwent the ordeals notwithstanding, Ms Benazir has to tread a fine line when including them in her government to mix with those that have changed allegiances to her only very recently, some as late as after the elections. It is incumbent upon the leadership to show the same mettle displayed by her die-hard faithful, in not compromising by including perennial camp followers, a good enemy is better than a bad friend.
Above all, Ms Benazir has to do right by this nation. Our masses are desperately poor and our economic needs can only be assuaged by the finest leadership, that which is founded on the real aspirations of the people, that which strives to come to grips with the real problems of the masses. High moral standards demand that she shrug off those individuals whose corruption tend to debilitate the very society she is pledged to redeem. While she is the Head of Government made by the PPP, as the Prime Minister of Pakistan as she must take into account the genuine demands of the opposition. No one doubts that she is capable of taking up the challenges facing this nation and harness all the energies within the country to combat the problems facing us. Most times she will be right, sometimes she may well be wrong, so what! If she can have the moral courage to separate fact from fiction, to gather all Pakistanis, irrespective of party affiliation, into the one platform of this country combating poverty, disease and hunger, she will have shown the courage she has of her conviction that must be synonymous with her present job. By listening to honest criticism and acting positively she will have set standards of principles which the future generations will not only emulate but hold up as the moral standards to eschew
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