I WOULD like to produce extracts from pages 142 and 143 from A Dream Gone Sour a book written by Roedad Khan. It is relevant today.

`In his address to the nation on August 6, 1990,the Presidenthad said:`Side by side with these agonising conditions, innumerable stories were circulating among the people of the misuse of power to accumulate and multiply personal fortunes and dole out favours. Bribery, dishonesty, and corruption were burning topics. Big scandals appeared frequently in the national and international press.

`Those who complained of corruption were repeatedly advised to go to court.

Apart from the fact that, in a democracy, it is the people and not the courts who are approached to vindicate one`s position, the advice was not wrong in principle.

However, in a court case, it is necessary to investigate the charges, which is not possible without the co-operation of official agencies, and no outsider can have access to them without the permission of the government. That being the case, the suggestion of going to court would haveproved futile ` Panama leaks and a sworn affidavit from Ishaq Dar explicitly implicate the ruling family that it has failed to conduct the business of state with financial and moral integrity, and thereby relinquished their legitimacy to govern.

They must put themselves up for an impartial accountability to prove their innocence.

Lt-Col (r) Syed Jamil Mukhtar Shah Islamabad