Abdul Bary Malik: Like millions of others, I despair. Who in Pakistan can we trust?

It is claimed several blatant no-balls were delivered by Pakistani bowlers during the recent Test at cricket's spiritual home. The News of the World says it paid 150,000 to a middle man who correctly told them in advance precisely when these deliveries would be bowled.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Imran Khan, a cricket hero to millions, said he was not shocked at the news. Khan said if the allegations are true "it's probably the biggest setback for Pakistani cricket".

He said people in Pakistan were stunned by the latest allegations and felt "extreme disappointment" and embarrassment at a time when the country is stricken by floods. "People were deeply upset, demoralised."

Hours after the claims emerged, I visited my local opticians with my wife. One of the opticians was a young Pakistani British citizen, born and brought up in Bradford. When I asked him about the betting scandal, he said that sadly "our country" has become corrupt at every level. "We must get rid of any players who are involved in this malpractice and make a clean team," he said.

As I was returning home, I was thinking that these comments are so true. They have also been made by hundreds of people in radio phone-ins on the issue.

Sadly, corruption has become the norm in every level of Pakistani society. As a nation, ordinary people have to face corruption at every juncture. Pakistanis living in the United Kingdom and other countries often complain that when they travel back home to visit their families, they have to bribe officials at every place starting from airports. In instances, they have to bribe customs officials to get a clearance even if they are not carrying anything illegal.

The flooding catastrophe in Pakistan is a good example of mistrust at every level where international donors have been slow and reluctant to help because of a fear of widespread corruption and transparency.

The money does not reach the people who deserve it. Learning from the past experience, people are not motivated enough to collect money. Generally, people would rather give to organisations they trust because the perception is that Pakistan has a corrupt and incompetent government.

Many also remain angry over the mismanagement of donations given following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005. People are looking at what the long-term impact of the aid should have been. And none of that happened. Towns were not rebuilt. Neither was much of the

infrastructure. So many people seem certain that it will be the same thing this time around, too.

Recently, Pakistani media outlets have also reported two cases of government officials setting up fake relief camps with hundreds of displaced persons before any VIP visits, only to walk away from the camps when the cameras were gone. The media has also reported cases where some influential persons and politicians have sabotaged the barrages to save their own land, therefore resulting in the land and crops of the poor being ruined.

Western nations are also wary about donating money that could end up in the hands of groups that sponsor terrorism.

Last month, Prime Minister David Cameron angered many when he said that it was "unacceptable" for Islamabad to sponsor terrorism overseas. His

words delighted his Indian audience, but provoked a backlash in Pakistan.

Yet, when terrorists attacked two mosques in Lahore belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in May, butchering 100 innocent worshippers, including young children and the very old and injuring more than 200, Mr Cameron's government declined to openly condemn this atrocity because it did not want to "upset" the Pakistani government. These double standards are disturbing. Other governments condemned the atrocity. Why did Mr Cameron not do so?

Turning back to the situation in Pakistan, it was horrifying to watch on TV screens the beating to death and then the upside down hanging of the two young brothers. Accused of theft, the teenagers were brutally beaten with sticks and kicks by at least four men – an event that was watched in silence by a couple of police officers and dozens of onlookers.

This is Pakistan today.

It was not an isolated incident. Within a week, two similar events were reported from Shujah Abad and Karachi where two young men were brutally slaughtered by the mobs. Not one onlooker moved or tried to intervene and stop the madness that took place.

One can assume why. There is every likelihood that most of the

onlookers believed that these young men actually deserved the killer punishment. This assumption shouldn't come as a surprise; especially in a society in which a majority of people (according to polls and surveys) prefer the imposition of violent punishments. It is a society in which one can find supposedly educated men and women defending the deeds of heartless extremists. They blame the extremists' unpardonable actions on the anti-Pakistan, anti-Islam activities of the usual list of "enemies".

It is a society that is always chanting about moral justice, and how unjust the West is towards Muslims, but it is a country that will not move an eyebrow when a series of hideous acts of blatant injustice (such as public beatings, gang rapes, humiliation of women and minorities), take place right underneath their own ostrich-like beaks .

Cricket was the one sport that could unite the whole country. Pakistanis are fanatical about their sport; the players worshipped. Teenager Mohammad Amir, one of the bowlers at the centre of the alleged betting scam, had become an overnight hero to millions – his was a story that could, potentially, inspire a nation.

It is difficult to see how Pakistan cricket can recover from such a scandal if the allegations are proven.

Cricket was supposed to be a sport about honesty, integrity and fair play. If the Test team is implicated, what kind of example are the players setting? I just despair, like millions of others. When will it end? Who, in Pakistani society, can we trust?

Dr Abdul Bary Malik MBE is a commentator on Muslim issues and spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Bradford.