Economics of terror

Corruption cannot be measured in statistics alone. It has political, economic, legal, social and moral dimensions. It cannot be eliminated by deafening noises at talk-shows. That can also be defined as the economic version of terrorism. The crime of corruption should be treated as treason and punished accordingly. The time-tested model of China can be used as an example to deal with our own predicament.

The deadly nexus between terrorism and corruption will annihilate the country if immediate steps are not put into place to harness this terminal illness. Corruption and Pakistan will not coexist forever. The time to act is now. Pakistan in its present state is an obvious version of a state that has not lived up to the dreams of its founding fathers. On the contrary, a corruption-free Pakistan will become a model of peace and progress, and assume the cherished leadership of the region and the world.

B A Malik

Islamabad