THE biggest data leak in history, `Panama leaks`, has triggered protests in various countries and speaks volumes about the relationship of rulers` powers and intensity of their greed.

The trailleads to politicalleaders, celebrities and businessmen around the globe,includingthe already beleaguered prime minister of Pakistan. Not surprisingly, the offshore financial regime has turnedintothe biggesthavenforoften ill-gotten money accumulated by political bigwigs.

Information gleaned from over 11m documents from a Panama-based law firm has triggered global investigations into secret offshore money. I wonder how the National Accountability Bureau, if it was inclined to do so, can bring money back tothe country.

Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah has rejected the judicial commission proposed by the premier to probe the matter and urged the government to hire foreign forensic audit companies to investigate the matter.

This rift among political parties, especially between the PPP and the PML-N which have been supporting each other in all testing times can further widen.

Inamul Haq Chakwal (2) THE prime duties of rulers and statesmen vis-à-vis the citizens is their strict adherence to the law. The ruler and the ruled all enjoy equal rights, and they are all equal before the law. Affluence, association with a political party, or belonging to a particular social class can, in no way, give legal distinction to a group of people over the other as we witness and experience nowadays in our unjust society.

Our government functionaries and officers consider themselves superior to ordinary citizens and, subsequently, demand extra legal rights. Adherence to the law and combating favouritism is not their key concern. Let`s see what happens in the Panama leaks equality before the law or the ruling class above the law? Hashim Abro Islamabad