When Honesty Becomes a Challenge

Honesty being considered something extraordinary!

CHITRAL: While refuelling at a petrol pump in Islamabad the other day, I came across a banner that read: “We challenge that here one litre of petrol is exactly one litre.”

The words of the banner hit me rather harshly. For a moment, I was bewildered. How have we reached a point where something as basic as giving a customer one litre of petrol for the price of one litre has become a matter of challenge? Something that should be perfectly normal is now being presented as an extraordinary achievement.

One litre should mean one litre. There should be no need to announce it, advertise it or challenge anyone to verify it. Honesty is not a favour that a business offers its customers. It is a basic obligation.

But perhaps this banner tells us something much deeper about the society we have evolved into. We have become so accustomed to dishonesty, cheating and short-changing one another that even fulfilling a basic responsibility is considered worthy of publicity. We have lowered our expectations so much that we are surprised when someone simply does what is right.

The tragedy is not limited to petrol pumps. We encounter the same attitude in almost every walk of life. A shopkeeper selling genuine goods, an official doing his duty, a contractor delivering what he has been paid for, or a public servant refusing a bribe are all treated as exceptions rather than the norm.

What kind of society are we building when honesty needs a guarantee, integrity needs an advertisement and doing one’s duty deserves applause?

A healthy society does not celebrate people for not cheating. It takes honesty for granted. Perhaps our greatest national crisis is not a shortage of resources, but the gradual disappearance of our sense of right and wrong. .. CN report, 09 Nov 2026