Low ranking

Pakistan has received another failing score in its report card, indicating its poor performance in the field of social development, health, law and order, and other issues. The latest red mark comes in the global index of 2021 put out by the World Justice Project, which focuses on government performance in terms of corruption, the ability to offer fundamental rights to people, law and order, civil and criminal justice and other related issues. Pakistan fares the worst out of all countries in the region, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, with only Afghanistan finishing behind it.

Pakistan shows the worst performance in corruption, where it finishes below average compared to other key countries in the same region and the world, with the category ranking, bribery, nepotism, and influence whether at the political or personal level. For unsurprising reasons, it also shows a poor performance in terms of law and order, and security, finishing with a score that puts it in the red zone, well below the average mark for most countries. The same is true in the area of fundamental rights, again something which cannot surprise many Pakistanis, and in other areas as well including the implementation of laws and the ability to enforce the laws that exist. In other words, the government has failed in all the ideas which are most crucial to the people and to their wellbeing.

The report is a prestigious document which appears each year and is an indication of how countries are faring in governance. Pakistan's scores in terms of transparency of government for criminal rights and access to criminal justice may be slightly better than its performance in other areas, but the difference is marginal. Basically Pakistan has done extremely poorly in almost all the areas that a government is expected to deal with. We need answers to why we are so far away from creating that ideal state the prime minister had promised us when he first came to power. It is true it is difficult for third world countries to manage as efficiently as developed European democracies, which inevitably finish top of the list. But such a poor performance shows a dismal record of three years in power. The law and order problem is one the prime minister and his team had pledged they would deal with immediately, and it is also extremely disappointing for PTI supporters that the country has been ranked so low as far as the ability to control corruption goes. Going against corruption and rooting it out was the battle cry of the PTI and its supporters. For now, we are left asking: whither rule of law?