According to Lord Acton
“Absolute power brings absolute corruption”
Here corruption is not only meant by taking pecuniary advantages but it involves manipulating everything that comes under power, violating rights, and spreading atrocities. Irrespective of gender, age, position, or duration, whoever holds the power, corrupts. You can notice in your daily life how the one who holds power from a municipal officer or clerk to a statesman, manipulates it. Power makes a person blind. Power’s lust cannot be satiated and the person who gets injured with it, can’t manage without it.
Influence is also another form of power in which a person doesn’t possess power in his hands directly but has gambits and resources with the help of those, he can compromise a fair working system.
Talking about Pakistan, this power and influencing culture have deteriorated the law and order situation. Everyone who holds power considers himself and his belongings above the law. He takes full advantage of it without even guilty thinking it is his basic right. Using power, he finds an easy way out for himself every time he gets in trouble. Power alters the way of thinking. A powerful person considers the rest of others inferior. Jobs, opportunities, and facilities belong to those who possess some kind of power or influence. The condition of government institutes is very squalor because to avoid red-stepping there, you will have to find some kind of reference because without that the officers (who are servants) will treat you like an inferior creature.
The story is and has been the same across the world. Human history teemed with such circumstances when power exploited the rights and freedom of people, caused devastation, spread inequality, and destroyed civilizations. Even now if we glance at a bird’s eye view of international relations, we will grasp this bitter reality that there is a tug of war for obtaining absolute power. Wars have been imposed on innocent people to get their arms sold and to expand their rule. Diseases are being spread to boost their businesses. And much more is happening overtly or covertly.
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Being a living being, we also have to encounter many situations and among them, those situations are also included when you face the bitter reality of this morally and ethically destructed society. I have also faced many situations when I experienced that without power and influence, you cannot manage much in this country. And this is the reason why you will see thousands of persons outside MOFA, asking them to let them all move abroad.
Whether for finding internships or a better room in the university’s hostel and whether to get grades or a job, I realized how important power is to get your work accomplished. I can narrate to you tens of incidents. Some of them are not even able to describe how I misused power. Let me tell you a story when I countered a person who tried to use his power to bully my friend although it ended in a scuffle.
It happened when we were new to university. I was an innocent boy but a few months in university made me realize that I can’t manage here with this attribute. I started adopting a hard and sturdy personality both physical and behaviour-wise. And that’s why even seniors used to hesitate from me. But some people can’t get familiarized with the environment just like my friend.
So one of my friends was diffident and his senior roommate was exploiting his timidity. His roommate used to bully him and my friend was so afraid due to his intimidation. He discussed this matter with me. Though I was also in my first year I dared to break someone’s nose if needed.
I immediately talked to his roommate and he instead of getting ashamed of his actions tried to threaten me about unions he was associated with. I warned him saying this time I am talking through words but next time I will not use words only.
The next night my friend texted me saying he had brought his room with his friends and they all are now teasing me. I reached there with my friends and asked them to end this bullshit but they thought us junior tried to impinge upon us. How could we allow this? Thus after the exchange of words scuffle started. It was not very bloody because many ones mediated thinking noise.
This didn’t end here. The matter was taken to the University Discipline Committee. The jury listened all the accusers and ousted that senior from his room and thus in this way my friend was relieved although I suffered heavy penalty as well
