January 10, 2021 All efforts in the history of the country to establish a permanent accountability process appear to have come down to political victimisation and exclusion Photo by Rahat Dar In 2001, two former federal ministers, Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat and Anwar Saifullah and the former Punjab chief minister Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo were investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). A few years down the lane, they were again in the cabinet. The NAB was unable to prove them guilty as charged. The cases against them were widely dismissed as politically motivated. The investigation and prosecution was seen as tactical i.e. meant only to suppress political opposition.