Unfortunate incident

On August 21, the Lahore High Court was hearing the case against those who were involved in the Sher Zaman case. Instead of adopting a professional approach, some members of the legal community resorted to unprofessional conduct. Some members of this community, while trampling all professional norms, resorted to breaking the law of which they were supposed to be the custodians. How unfortunate. This highlights the fact that in our country, professionals who are responsible protecting an institution are the one who are hurting it the most. In addition to the example given above, the attitude of the teachers associations is not encouraging at all. In the education sector, no reforms are possible without the buy in of the teachers associations. Instead of being partners in implementing critical reforms to enhance the image of the education sector, the teachers associations are the major stumbling block in implementing any reforms. With this attitude of the teaching community, the education sector keeps declining. The recent CSS debacle should serve as an eye opener for the teachers.

It must be realised that both the legal community and the teachers association are critical for building strong institutions. Rule of law and merit will not be the cultural heritage of our institutions if these communities will stay silent over the indecent behaviour of their colleagues. The saner elements in these communities must raise their voice against the hooliganism. Our country will not progress if all our professional groups don’t commit to make their respective institutions a source of inspiration for those aspiring to join these professions.

Dr Zafar I Qureshi (Lahore)