Its very difficult to discuss this topic with brief posts. Corruption is inversely related to equal distribution of wealth. Higher the corruption poorer the awaam, lower the corruption the richer the middle class. Pakistan's corruption is a direct result of two reasons :
1) Army dictatorship
2) Corrupt democracies
Musharraf and especially Zia didn't use the funds received from their master USA into productive use i.e. education, road infrastructure, hospitals, research etc. These funds were received for Pak army's participation in the (so-called) War Against Terrorism and Afghan wars. Firstly we shouldn't have bowed down to the orders of the US and even if we were acting as slaves at least we should've used the funds for a constructive cause. What Zia-Musharraf did with these funds was buy out politicians to keep their vote banks strong. This is why both of them stayed in power for longer than any other Pakistani dictator. There was 'some' progress in their eras primarily because of a cash inflow from Non-resident Pakistanis but during the end of their tenures, Pakistanis had realized about the corruption levels in these dictatorial governments. That is when the economies collapsed.
Corrupt politicians especially Nawaz, Benazir and especially Zardari not only engaged in buying out politicans, but also created personal empires both within and outside the country. Asif Zardari would easily take the award for the most corrupt politician in Pakistani history. He, unlike, Nawaz used the government-backed banks funds to invest overseas. Nawaz used these loans to create most of his industries in Pakistan. Ofcourse he never paid off these loans and that is why the state bank became poorer and poorer. It wasn't able to loan money to small investors, starters etc. People lost faith in the governments. This is why a country which gives the 'highest' amount of charity/capita became one of the biggest income-tax cheats in the world. Pakistanis just didnt want to give a part of their hard earned money to these politicians who would use it to fund their personal wants.
Corruption destroyed our education system, our healthcare system, our road infrastructure, tourism, green-landscapes, our national airline, our railways, our roadtransport system, our agricultural industry, small&medium sized businesses, entertainment industry, job market and even our sports.
Pakistan is a miracle of a country which has survived so many evil dictators and corrupt politicians. But all think-tanks and intellectuals now believe that we cant perform miracles forever. Forget Imran Khan. ANY new person who intends a positive change should take this country by storm as long as he stands firmly against the status-quo.
Posted 6 months ago on 23 Nov 2011 11:21
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