Why is it that whenever (however rarely), some member of the parliament raises the issue of the scandalous land-grab by the mafia, some government leader comes to their rescue? When the Punjab Assembly started a debate about land acquisition of the Roberts Farm by Moonis Elahi, none other than PPP's Qasim Zia came for his help and the matter got referred to a Special Committee. Is this part of the policy of "You scratch my back and I will scratch yours". This is not the first instance of this kind. In Karachi, the City government made an out of court settlement, in the famous Kidney Hill Park scandal, involving illegal occupation by a powerful member of a well-known land mafia. Had it gone into litigation, the mafia was sure to lose this 55 acres piece of prime Karachi land meant originally to be used as a public park. It ended up being grabbed by the mafia having close ties with the Chaudhries (you know who). Then, there is the case of Islamabad's DHA Valley, involving a notorious man, who has made it from rags to riches through daredevil occupations on prime real estate with the blessings of every government. As long as we the people keep on tolerating these looters and plunderers of our land and its scarce resources, the country's future would remain bleak. -SYED JAWAID H., Multan, via e-mail, February 11.