Moral compass.

DURING the reign of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, the East India Company was speedily capturing the states of India. His advisers kept updating him on the situation, but, as the fable goes, he would always say, Dilli hanooz door ast (Dilli is still far away).

Soon Dilli (Delhi) was also captured, the emperor was imprisoned and he lived his remaining life in turmoil until he kicked the bucket. The episode underlines the importance of timely ascertaining the problem and making the right policies accordingly.

Pakistan faces a similar issue. We have rampant corruption in state institutions, but the nation seems least bothered. According to the report published by Transparency International, Pakistan is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Percentage Index (CPI) for the year 2022.

This is a huge jump compared to the year 2020 when it was ranked 124th on the same list. The report said 25 per cent of public service users paid bribes in 2022. The number of unreported bribe-payers would surely be far more than the reported ones.

Not even a single...