The PTI-led government has enhanced the punishment for corruption to 10 years by amending the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. It deserves applause for taking a significant step towards elimination of an ill that is eating into the vitals of the nation. After getting clearance from the Senate and the presidential assent, under the amended law those convicted of corrupt practices will be awarded a maximum of 10 years and a minimum of five years in jail.
This amendment was the need of the hour considering the ever-expanding net of the vice, more so when the country has dropped four points on the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI). In the 2020 edition of CPI, Pakistan has been placed at 124 out of 180 countries. It is, however, surprising that previous governments did not feel the need to raise punishment for dishonest practices in the public sector to rein in the bane of corruption. It appears that 1947 happened only a few years ago, and not 70-plus years back. This government has realised the harmful effects of corruption on all spheres of life — it arrests and even reverses economic progress, disrupts society and undermines the rule of law. Here a concise definition of the dirty word is in order. Corruption has been defined as the abuse of a position of trust for the benefit of yourself, your family, friends and financiers.
In most developing countries, funds worth billions, allocated for development, find their way into offshore bank accounts. It is easy to level allegations of corruption especially against those in positions of authority, but it is difficult to prove them, which is because clever wrong-doers don’t leave evidence of their misdeeds. All such countries need to devise means to catch practitioners of dishonesty and ensure deterrent punishment to them. Unfortunately, we have been miseducated about corruption because some myths are associated with it. The most important one is that it’s not a crime.
Covid blow to PSL
Coronavirus has penetrated into the bio-secure bubble meant to guard all associated with PSL-6 from the lethal infection. The ongoing edition of the cricket league thus stands suspended sine die — in a huge disappointment for the players and officials as well as cricket fans across the country and outside. It started off from Australian legs-spinner Fawad Ahmed contracting the virus, leading to the March 1 match between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators first getting delayed by two hours and then rescheduled for the following day. Two more overseas players and a support staff then tested positive for the microbe; and as these lines are being written a total of seven individuals connected with PSL-6 are down with the deadly affection that has taken more than 13 thousand lives in the country besides affecting more than 5,85,000 people.
The Covid-19 penetration into the bio-secure bubble — an environment cut off from the outside world and where all those engaged in the tournament are limited to a few places — raises questions whether its conditions were not followed in letter and spirit. We remember how Pakistan players were made to strictly follow the bio-secure bubble requirements during their last tour of New Zealand. Players were not even allowed outside their rooms during the quarantine period so much so that some players had even complained of mistreatment. However, during the PSL we saw players allowed to enjoy golf during a rest day in the tournament — something that speaks of the non-seriousness and leniency on the part of the cricket board officials.
Besides, allowing spectators into the stadium to fill 20 per cent of the seating capacity is unlikely to have gone without playing a role. It has turned out to be a premature decision. The PSL is not just a cricket festival for Pakistan, it means much more than that for the whole nation. The PCB should have done everything to keep it safe from the coronavirus onslaught. But the genome has played the spoilsport with the greatest cricket gala in the country — yet again. Quite understandably, the cricket board is quiet on when the matches will resume. To conclude, the board has moved swiftly and wisely to postpone the tournament with immediate effect “in consideration for the health and wellbeing of all participants in the tournament”.
GLOF alert
Back in July 2020, the people of Hassanabad, a tiny village in Pakistan’s mountainous Hunza District, witnessed water-levels rapidly rising in nearby streams. The subsequent flood that erupted, carrying huge boulders of melting glacier, ravaged the village and destroyed the livelihood of thousands of locals. A few days ago, the meteorological department issued a GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) alert for the same village, since there is a threat of a lake bursting due to a surge in Shishper glacier’s melting — an event that will intensify in the coming 3 to 4 weeks, experts claim. The area is one of 24 valleys in northern Pakistan that is under direct threat from glacial lake outburst floods.
Scientists have long predicted that the melting of glaciers, owing to the rise in global temperatures, would pose a serious threat to billions around the world. But they too remain astounded at the rate at which the event is unfolding. Such a phenomenon would entail disastrous consequences for Pakistan since the country has the greatest number of glaciers — more than 7,000 — in the world, outside the polar regions. All in all, millions of people remain vulnerable, especially communities living in the northern parts of the country who rely on glacier for consumption and agricultural purposes.
The melting glaciers not only pose a threat to the surrounding environment but due to subsequent flash floods all nearby localities are at grave risk. The threat, however, doesn’t end here. Many researchers claim that the climate change crisis will destabilise Asia’s rivers, the effects of which will reverberate throughout the whole southern continent. With millions of people at the mercy of prayers and thousands unaware of the looming threat, the Government of Pakistan and the UNDP need to work together in order to protect and empower local communities. However, it is far more important to push the initiative at the international level.
