The companions of Prophet PBUH gave him the title of Sadiq and Ameen. It is an element of faith for Muslims that no person, other than Prophets before him, would qualify to fulfill requirements worthy for this title.
What Pakistan requires are leaders with integrity, commitment and political vision of Quaid e Azam Mohd Ali Jinnah, not hypocrites, nor men with insatiable greed for assets. It is the financial integrity of an individual, his ability to make appointments and decisions only on merit, who should not be susceptible to greed, believes in rule of law, supremacy of constitution and is not slave to addictions of any kind, with no conflicts of interest and has undivided loyalty to Pakistan. This is what is required for a person to hold constitutional offices of importance such as PM, CM, top bureaucrats, heads of security services etc.
The irony is that military dictator, who inserted this clause in our constitution, had sworn on oath that he would protect and honor the Constitution, a pledge which he violated. Former General Zia’s conduct while posted to Jordan, in accordance to Code of Conduct of his institution, merited penalty of Court Martial, which unfortunately was not given and this country had to pay a heavy price. During his tyrannical rule, Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty was compromised, when he plunged this country into a needless proxy war, giving sanctuary to thousands of alien extremists and fundamentalists, and to this day hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters of this country have lost their lives and millions displaced. Pakistan continues to bleed from Zia’s legacy which nurtured evil of sectarianism, ethnicity, corruption, hypocrisy and a criminal economy, which has brought ignominy and endless misery for us as a nation.
It is time to undo and amend Article 62 & 63 and put in place amendments which can cleanse this country of corrupt to the core individuals through transparent scrutiny irrespective of his faith, belief, creed or color.
MALIK TARIQ ALI,
Lahore, August 2.
