Certain bad habits when go unchecked by society engulfs the whole culture. The same is true when it comes to lies. Most people lie in our society and trustworthy people are hard to find. The weak do not have any option and the bully imposes his will.
I know a businessman from Lahore for whom a strong politician owes PKR 20 Million but this businessman is afraid to reach out to the authorities as the politician can implicate him in fake FIRs using “lies” as a tool.
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The Cover-up
In the year 2010/2011, I was entrusted with investigating the cost of a delayed PIA flight. The flight was scheduled from Islamabad to Paris. While the passengers took their seats and the Trim (an aviation document depicting the load details of aircraft and supposed to be signed by the pilot just before departure) was being signed, at the very same moment, the Captain and Co-Pilot of the flight declined to fly the plane to Paris on the plea that their duty started 3 hours back and by the time they would reach Paris it would already exceed their duty time limitation.
The unions adopt this tactic of “Go by Book” instead of a strike. The management, already engrossed with other problems has to come to terms with unions and the company makes many compromises and cover-ups and sinks every more. It was a Boeing 777 aircraft and at that particular time, qualified pair of pilots for this aircraft type was available in Karachi only. So the plane was flown to Karachi by the same crew who declined to fly to Paris. On way to Karachi, fuel was dumped before landing at Karachi due to landing weight limitations as the plane had a bigger quantity of fuel uploaded for the longer route of Islamabad-Paris.
During this time, the passengers underwent great discomfort as they were first taken to Karachi. From Karachi, another pair of pilots flew the aircraft to Paris. This also caused delayed arrival in Paris during the Night Curfew timing hence the airline had to pay the fine of 10,000 Euro. Extra meals, extra fuel, extra duration, fine, provision of a hotel to already checked-in passengers ex Paris, etc caused PKR around PKR 10 Millions of loss. The loss of losing those unhappy passengers to other airlines still goes on.
I asked my management to make a disciplinary case against the individual crew, however, the coverup was given for fear of further actions by unions.
Another Big Lie
During the current month, September 2022, Pakistan won the Cricket World Cup for veterans Over 60 years of age against New Zealand in the final. I was astonished to know that Sagheer Abbas, the younger brother of great Zaheer Abbas, was also part of that team as a player. As per wisden.com and pcb.com.pk, he is 58 years old. Further, I believe he still works for PIA and will be reaching 60 years of age by December 2024. How could he be playing in an over-60s tournament?
Such are the lies we do not take seriously and the same has become a norm in our society and leads to embarrassment any time later. Courts are rife with lies. business deals meet with unfair ends. The culture of lies all around deters international investors to come to our land hence debarring us from the economic advantages the global village of world offers.
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We hardly see anyone implicated in a court of law for lying. We have to change. The Quran says,
“Verily, God will not change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their state themselves (13:11 Quran)”.
If we decide to disown and boycott everybody among us who lies, be it our closest relatives or friends, we will have justice in society and respect in the world. The economic advantages will follow themselves.
The writer is an Ex-Airliner and Management Consultant. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.