THIS refers to the article ‘Abusing a legacy’ (Nov 30) by Zia-ur-Rehman who has tried to make a case in favour of a bureaucratic tradition which is simply a relic of the past and has no place in this time and age.
His arguments are wide of the mark in the context of the emerging concept of a modern state. One wonders why we should feel nostalgic about a bureaucracy which the Brits themselves have discarded long ago.
Today, Western democracies are serviceoriented. The concept of a state machinery ruling the masses has been dumped forever.
Modern states are being administered as conduits of social services to the people.
A government not responsive to the people cannot survive. The modern state is more like a business enterprise selling goods and services to the consumers.
It promises to have a police force ready to serve and protect the citizens. It is dutybound to offer justice to anyone who seeks it. States that don’t operate on these premises become dysfunctional and become handmaidens of self-proclaimed revolutionaries.
Attig Siddiqui New York