The Death of the State: The Victory of the Mafia

.. by Syed Ali Shehryar

Pakistan’s tragedy is not merely that its treasury is under pressure, but that questions about public money, accountability and the protection of honest officials continue to haunt the country.

Consider the reported cost of maintaining 1,750 civil service officers inherited from the British Raj. According to figures circulating on the subject, the lifetime cost of one officer can reach PKR 822 million, including benefits beyond salaries. The estimated total commitment runs into trillions of rupees. At a time when Pakistan has repeatedly turned to the IMF for financial assistance, such figures raise serious questions about public expenditure and the privileges enjoyed by the powerful.

An equally disturbing story is that of Customs Inspector Ijaz Chaudhry, who reportedly refused to look the other way when he discovered $500,000 in the luggage of model Ayyan Ali at Islamabad’s old airport. According to the account, he reported the discovery despite alleged pressure to back down. His promotion was reportedly stopped, and he was later murdered outside his home before he could testify in court.

The account also describes the suffering of his widow and son, who were left to seek justice while the case faded from public attention. His story raises a fundamental question: what protection does the state offer an honest official who dares to enforce the law against the powerful?

The third issue concerns Pakistan’s mineral wealth. Figures cited in a circulating claim suggest that a subsidiary company of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) extracted 987,000 tonnes of copper from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between 2016 and 2026. At an assumed price of $11,500 per tonne, the gross value would be approximately $11.35 billion, or Rs4.05 trillion. However, the quantity, valuation and actual revenue received require independent verification, and gross mineral value is not the same as government revenue.

These three issues point towards one larger question: who ultimately benefits from the country’s resources, public expenditure and institutions?

A state cannot survive on borrowing while neglecting accountability. Nor can the rule of law flourish if honest officials feel abandoned and public wealth remains beyond effective scrutiny.

When accountability becomes selective, public trust dies. And when the state fails to protect honesty, the powerful begin to believe that the law does not apply to them.

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