Toxic VIP culture

There are many things wrong with our society, and the list of ills can be pretty long. But perhaps amongst the worst is the dreaded, toxic VIP culture that has begun to dominate life.

Unfortunately, every other person considers himself/herself above the law, entitled to privilege and power, while the law-abiding citizen is made to feel like a nobody, a useless sap with no voice. Let me list a few examples that you may be familiar with.

Perhaps VIP culture is best — or worst — exhibited on the roads. This writer is pretty positive the average reader has witnessed one of these situations. As you drive along on your way to wherever you are going, you are suddenly sideswiped by a phalanx of 4×4 vehicles, with armed hoodlums dumped in the back. If you dare argue with these ‘important’ people, chances are one of the thugs-for-hire will point their weapon at you — not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.

There is no way to confirm whether the weapons are licensed or not, or if the armed guards are policemen or private mercenaries. All you know is that one of the ‘important’ persons in one of these garish vehicles wields money and power, and that they take every opportunity to flaunt it.

But even seemingly ordinary people display their worst behaviour on the road. For example, if you are naïve enough to actually stop at a red light (like this writer is) chances are you will be greeted by a cacophony of honking cars and motorbikes behind you, with people questioning your sanity for stopping at a red light. In Pakistan everyone is too important to follow stupid traffic rules, it seems. Everybody is a VIP and has to be somewhere immediately; those who follow the rules are dopes, apparently.

Other examples of VIP culture/breaking the rules can be witnessed in malls and supermarkets. People will shove you out of the way to get into the elevator. Others will cut in line at the cash register. The situation in banks is not too different, as customers patiently waiting their turn will often have to wait a while, as ‘important’ persons will probably be served ahead of you as they sip tea/coffee with the manager, while you stand in line like a simpleton. Waiting our turn in line is apparently against our sense of honour.

Unfortunately, perhaps the common citizens are not to blame entirely for this sense of entitlement and breaking of all rules. After all, our ruling elite have set the standard, telling the common folks that rules are made to be broken and that rules do not apply to the rich and powerful in our country. This appears to be the basic problem, and this is what needs to change.

I’m not a big fan of the West but we often hear stories — mostly true —of ministers and even rulers using public transport, or even cycling to work. Can you imagine the high and mighty of our land wriggling into a W11 in Karachi to get to the Sindh Secretariat, or jostling for space in a wagon at Faizabad to get to federal ministries in Islamabad? When hell freezes over. But the poor things face security threats, you say. That may be true in some cases but unfortunately every little babu and apparatchik in our land considers himself entitled to presidential security, as you and I, the taxpayers, pay for it.

Perhaps the reason that things rarely work in Pakistan is that the elite do not use public infrastructure and services. Public transport is in a shambles because the sahibs have convoys and apparently limitless fuel, with armed thugs in tow, to get them from point a to point b. Government schools are failing because the high and mighty send their wards to private schools, or even abroad if their pockets are deep enough. Government hospitals are death traps, because the rich and the entitled can saunter off to hospitals on foreign shores to get that cough or stomach ache checked out by the finest doctors money can buy.

Until and unless the elite — specifically the ruling elite — are made to use public infrastructure and facilities, things will never improve, and the rotten VIP culture will continue. The rich and powerful must be made to wait in line like average Joes, take the bus to work, and get treated at government facilities when indisposed. Methinks things may change very quickly if this is done.

It is time things were done for the little guy in this country. No more sloganeering and lollipops; funds generated by taking the people’s tax money must be spent on them, not to finance the lavish lifestyles of our ruling elite. Moreover, there should be a strict ban on armed convoys terrorising ordinary citizens on the roads. Such vulgar displays of power have no place in a civilised society.

The prime minister means well when he says that he wants to replicate the ‘Riasat-i-Madina’. However to emulate that venerable model, the ruling elite must embrace simplicity, and eschew luxurious living at the cost of the people.

Giving the people good infrastructure, health and education is not rocket science. All it requires is a will and a way. The first thing that should be chucked out the window is VIP culture and the sense of entitlement people have become accustomed to. All are equal in the eyes of the law, and money and power cannot, or should not, buy you special privileges.

An egalitarian society cannot be built simply with slogans; actions are needed, and change must begin from the top.

The writer is City Editor, Bol News