Very, very good viewpoints. I cannot diagree with any of them. I think what it boils down to is the basic cultural makup of Indians and Pakistanis. I came here at an early age, and the last time I visited was in 1999. That was mostly because my aging Dad had never met my wife or kids and he was anxious to do so.
I think we tolerate corruption and are almost resigned to it as a fact of life. While in Bombay and Bangalore, I saw it everywhere. My Pakistani friends say it is the same in Pakistan also.
Allow me to bore you with this little incident. We had just landed in Bombay ( complete chaos!) and the customs line was real long. I noticed a uniformed customs dude collecting passports from some people ( along with a "tip") taking it to the counter, where the boss customs man would stamp it and he would return to the people, who were then waved through. This ticked me off to no end, and being stupid, I walked to the top of the " Non-citizen" line and real loudly told the boss customs man, "hey! do you know one of your guys is taking bribes from passengers to get their passports quick?" I said this loud enough for several other people to hear!! The guy gives me a " you are screwing up my show" look, and without another word, stamped all our passports and shooed us through. He wanted me gone!!!!
Corruption and red tape appears to be our downfall. It does not matter whether it is a civilian PM or a Amry Chief. Yes, from what I've read both NS and BB were corrupt. I think people look at Mush as a breath of fresh air. However with time, he also fell into the politician midset, and now there is corruption in the Armed Forces.
The Army in Pakistan is the last bastion of order. That is why I am dissapointed. Perhaps I expected more.