Millions loot but very negligible boot

How heartening news I have read whereas two police officials proved to be morally conscious and toiled hard to return quite handsome money and important documents to one who lost it somewhere in Dhok Kalan Khan while he resides in Murree!

The details are that Sub Inspector Shafqat Ali and Head Constable Sibtain Haider both working in traffic police, Islamabad luckily found Rs 20,000 cash and some important documents in Dhok Kalan Khan. They became extremely restless as to how to reach the owner and return his belongings. Their honest efforts eventually paid the dividends as the owner Rafaqat Ali could be found in Murree and he had been handed over both the cash and documents. SSP Traffic, Islamabad Dr Moeed Massood being over all officer incharge of traffic police in the capital in his officially capacity has announced cash prize and commendation certificates for both the police junior officials. Quite naturally the chief boss namely IGP, Islamabad Bani Amin Khan has also very openly commended the efforts of the two concerned.

As a matter of fact the news has given birth to so many life searching questions hence it cannot and should not be construed as end of the story as many might thought of it alike simply because as per the news, the money and the documents lost by someone have been given back to owner. I am continually out of the country since 1976 so I have no idea whatsoever as to what could be monthly emoluments of concerned police officials but yet I guess it must not be as high as Rs 20,000 pm.

If I am correct in my assumption then it needs real extra moral guts on the part of both the persons not to think even for a fraction of a second to swallow such handsome money and instead put in their most sincere efforts to reach to the owner to give him back what has lost. If the two exemplary police officials had thought of it to share the cash so found between them then who on the face of earth could know of it is my too simple question which needs an answer and should not be ignored instead?  

Cash is cash which has two very glaring aspects to be honest. Everyone whether Muslim or non Muslim; top governor or the lowest governed; male or female; highly educated or brute illiterate; robust healthy or too sick; business tycoon or ordinary employee; or for that matter whether a Pakistani or non Pakistani on one hands wants as much cash as possible either through employment or through inheritance or even minted through business while on the other hand none wants to spend cash and instead wishes keep it safe for as long period as possible. In this case when the said cash was found by two persons it was very much believed by bulk majority of Pakistanis that the two will pocket the cash instead of trying to reach to the owner or to deposit the cash with authorities to search for the owner but they have proved us wrong, totally wrong because they did not pocket themselves as was expected of them. I simply cannot be wrong to remark that if anybody had asked Rafqat Ali about the cash, he must had replied that he very much doubts to get it back and though quite naturally he would love to get back the money but shamefully we have proved to be otherwise which is very much painful in any case. It can be said with full conviction and authority that if the two pious souls had asked others what to do with the money, most of them had said to keep it with yourself because you have not stolen but found.

Now let us discuss about the other type of our own people who are earning more than what they are legally entitled to and their number runs into millions and their list is so heavy that one cannot even personify them even if someone wants to. None can dispute that in our beloved Pakistan right from number one who is President of Pakistan in this case down below to the level of a peon, almost everyone is earning over above his or her legal entitlement. Their earnings range in value is a sense that higher on the rung earns higher than the one who is down below and this is being practiced from day one with no stoppage in between except that now it has become a qualification to earn and anyone who does not do alike is shunned, rebuked and named as a coward. How tragic it is that instead of patronizing the one who limits to legal earning, we ridicule and rebuke him or her instead. Just look back what are the ground realities which cannot be ignored in any case.

There are certain government departments, institutions and organizations which are primarily tasked to deal with corruption cases only and had Pakistan been free of such vice we never ever had Anti Corruption Department; National Accountability Bureau; Federal Investigating Agency etc to name a few. If we look back at our history we must be very much ashamed if ourselves to be a nation where right from highest top to the lowest bottom we read the names of those who had implicated directly or indirectly to earning much more than what the laws of the land had entitled them but who cared. On the face of it none admitted to be doing alike but when someone investigated it was found that the whole lot had been found to be involved though their degree of involvement varied in percentage. Almost all of our government entities which could be either ministry, organization, bureau, commission and or a department etc has earned very bad repute in this connection which must be regretted to the most.

Police department, regretfully is blamed to be at the top amongst our all government functionaries where none misses any chance to get whatever possible if not in cash then in kind and there have been the cases when a police official has earned on both heads namely cash and kind. These two gentlemen named Shafqat Ali and Sibtain Haider has only set an example of par excellence to be followed by others but have also shown mirror to those who simply cannot boast of possessing such high moral caliber. How many more people are alike this couple in my beloved Pakistan?  Can you name even one if not more who equates with Shafqat and Sibtain?

Long live Shafqat and Sibtain you have not only really raised our heads but fluttered Pakistan flag atop too.