THE Ministry of Religious Affairs has apparently shown its agility in acting by asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ascertain the authenticity of the letter, supposed to have been written by the Saudi Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, alleging that far more expensive and far more distant lodgings were hired for Pakistani pilgrims than he had offered to rent. The point is that even if the letter is fake, it was incumbent upon the government to start inquiring into the allegations of swindling those persons who undertake to perform Haj. The shame is all the greater when we take into account that a large majority of Haj pilgrims go through privation and virtually take a life time to collect the required amount for performing the sacred religious duty of Haj and then face cheating at the hand of unscrupulous elements in the official hierarchy. Another question is that stories to that effect have been making the rounds for quite a while, and if the Religious Ministry were serious about unearthing the motives of officials involved in this shady deal, it would by now have reached some conclusion and identified the guilty. By now, punitive action would have been taken and announcement that the affected pilgrims would be duly compensated when they return, already made. Thus, perhaps, there was not much need for the Religious Ministry to find the letters authenticity. The truth behind the details was already known. Considering the general attitude of the government towards the rampant malpractice in the country, it is, perhaps, not trying to get at the bottom of the truth, and is only performing a formality. Corruption is writ large on the deal. Now that the Supreme Court is seized of the matter, it would be taken up with all seriousness. That corruption is at the root of all our problems and unless something is done to uproot the evil, the society would continue to suffer, is being proven time and again. The electricity official tampers the meter to favour the consumer who greases his palm; the commercial dealer adulterates even the edibles; fake medicines are sold as genuine; a driving licence can be acquired without going through the driving test formality - these examples and many, many more that are current in society would incline one to believe that the filthy lucre has been the deciding factor in cheating the unsuspecting and poor Haj pilgrims. From somewhere we have to make a start to remove this cancer; or else we would keep sinking deeper into the quagmire.