In 2013, a new political force entered the corridors of power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), carried by a wave of public discontent and hope. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan, promised to uproot entrenched corruption, overhaul governance, and restore dignity to the republic. The slogans of insaf, tabdeeli, and clean governance resonated across the province. For many, it felt like the beginning of a moral transformation.

Twelve years later, that promise lies in ruins. The Rs 40 billion Kohistan scandal, emerging under PTI’s own watch, represents not just administrative failure—it signals a collapse of moral and political integrity.

According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), massive embezzlement occurred between 2018 and 2024 in Upper Kohistan, with public development funds siphoned off through fake cheques, ghost projects, and bank collusion. Over Rs 25 billion worth of assets has already been recovered: luxury vehicles, gold bars, plazas, and bank accounts frozen across multiple districts.

More troubling is the involvement of prominent political figures. Former PTI senator Azam Swati has been summoned over suspicious transactions exceeding Rs 300 million. One arrested contractor is reported to have used looted funds to purchase Swati’s residence.

The Kohistan scandal reveals not merely a breach of accountability — but a breach of trust in a party that claimed to be morally exceptional. This is not a minor administrative hiccup. This is a philosophical collapse.

A Crisis of Political Culture

PTI positioned itself as the antithesis of dynastic politics and rent-seeking elites. Yet Kohistan exposes how quickly revolutionary fervor can be consumed by the very system it promised to reform. Just as striking is the collective denial from party loyalists — a refusal to believe, even in the face of bank receipts, frozen assets, and criminal arrests.

When governance becomes myth and leadership becomes messianic, accountability dies. The public rationalizes:

“He didn’t know.”

“He was betrayed by others.”

“It’s all a conspiracy.”

But leadership without responsibility is not leadership — it is performance.

A National Illness, Not Just a Party Problem

Let us be clear: PTI is not alone in its failings. What happened in Kohistan could have happened — and has happened — under every major political party in Pakistan. Corruption is not merely a crime in this land; it is a cultural inheritance.

If the same culture of impunity repeats across parties, then we must admit the truth: the system is not broken — it is working exactly as designed.

Will the Voter Remember?

Let’s not delude ourselves. PTI will still win votes in the next election — perhaps even a majority. Because politics in Pakistan is no longer transactional; it is tribal. Support is based not on performance but identity, not on evidence but emotion.

This is why accountability often fails. The political class does not fear the law; they count on the public's short memory.

The Death of Innocence

The Kohistan scandal should mark the end of moral innocence in Pakistani politics. If even the party of “change” indulges in the same corruption, then no slogan remains unsoiled. No flag remains stainless. What dies in Kohistan is not just Rs 40 billion worth of public trust — it is the last illusion of ideological purity in modern Pakistan.

To those who still believe that political saviors exist, that the next leader will be “different,” let Kohistan serve as a reminder: the only difference is the speechwriter.

A Call to Conscience

This moment demands more than headlines. It demands reckoning.

If this scandal fades without consequences — if those who stole from the poorest remain in power, protected by the blind allegiance of voters — then we as a nation must stop asking “Who did this to us?” and start asking “Why do we let them?”

Because silence is not neutrality.