Pakistan’s army and the other two services run commercial enterprises
calling them ‘welfare measures’. Ayesha Siddiqa
writes how the Pakistan army
has acquired an industrial and real estate monopoly that has grown
frighteningly. There are three
independent Public Sector Units under the Pakistani army viz. National Logistic
Cell (NLC) that has the country’s biggest trucking fleet, the Frontier Works
Organisation that is akin to India’s
Border Rroads and the Special Communications Organisation, which runs the
telecom network in ‘Azad’ Kashmier. Besides, there are other major
subsidiaries including the Army’s Fauji Foundation, which owns 35
companies,
the Army Welfare Trust that holds 19 companies and the Air Force’s Shaheen
Foundation, which owns 11 companies. These entities include clearing and
forwarding, cement, security
services, banking, harbour services, stud farms, dredging,
airlines, construction, travel, universities and even shops and bakeries. If
only the Pakistan army take
to full fledged commercial activities surely peach would reign in India and Pakistan. But there is a rub. The
companies’ success in competition-free environment is making the army go after
profits while continuing to pretend to keep India at bay. Turkey has huge interests but no
monopoly and the Turkish generals intervene only in an emergency, ensure a
secular government and put hold on their business ambitions. Pakistan does
nothing of this. Indonesian army took over all businesses but the country was
more interested in earning commissions. This gave rise to a harsher Wahabi kind
of Islam. But what is wrong in military owning trucking company when facing Indian
threat? Ayesha courageously argues that Military business (Milbus) ends
to be clandestine and grossly under or over valued. The dependence on generals
and not state suborns troops’ loyalty. Milbus converts public money into
private wealth, perpetuates and glorifies military control of the state and
weakens every civilian institution.