Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy
By Ayesha Siddiqa
304 pages, London:
Pluto Press, 2007

In 2002, I visited Okara, Pakistan, to report on a peasant protest movement. The farmers, many of whose families had toiled there as sharecroppers for generations, were suspicious of a new land tenure agreement that the military, which owns and runs the farm, was imposing on them. To ensure the farmers signed up, hundreds of paramilitary Rangers laid siege to the farm's 22 recalcitrant villages. The resulting violence claimed eight lives. By the time I showed up, a Pakistani lieutenant colonel and several of his armed men were standing guard as one of the last groups of largely illiterate farmers put their thumbprints and X's on the new documents. "We are being forced to sign," one farmer dared to say.

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What would the powerful, nuclear-armed Pakistani military have to gain by riding herd over a 16,000-acre dairy, meat, and grain farm in the heart of the fertile Punjab plain? It's zealously protecting its growing economic empire. The farm at Okara is peanuts compared to the military's other expansive interests that include sprawling urban housing developments, rice and sugar mills, cement and fertilizer factories, banking, insurance, breakfast cereals, and road and bridge construction, to name just a few. Two so-called welfare institutions for Pakistani servicemen, the Fauji Foundation and the Army Welfare Trust, are the country's largest business conglomerates. Yet the military holds onto Okara as if it were a jewel in its economic crown. No slice of the armed forces' extensive agricultural, business, industrial, and real estate holdings that reach into the billions of dollars is too small to protect, it seems. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf may lament the plight of his country's 30 million landless peasants, but he doesn't talk of land reform at Okara.

In Pakistan, the military almost always has its way. Military-run regimes have ruled the country for half of its 60 years. And each successive military regime seems to tighten the armed forces' grip over the state even further. The past eight years of Musharraf's government have been no exception. Under him -- a four-star general and the Army's chief of staff -- the military has accumulated more political power than ever. And with the generals' increased political clout have flowed ever more perks, privileges, and economic benefits to the 650,000-strong armed forces. "All countries have armies, but in Pakistan things are reversed," says Pakistani nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy. "Here, it is the Army that has a country."

Until recently, few had a clue just how true that was. Like the military's nuclear weapons program, the scope of the armed forces' economic domain has been a closely held secret. Now, with the May publication of Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy, by Pakistani defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, the world is finally getting a glimpse of the military's massive holdings. By poring over new public documents, interviewing captains of the military's industries, all retired senior generals, and finding a few gutsy whistle-blowers, Siddiqa has done an admirable -- indeed courageous -- job by delving into this important and largely taboo subject.

Not surprisingly, Pakistan's military didn't take the publication of Military Inc. lightly. For her book's launch, Siddiqa thought she had secured the elite Islamabad Club, a favorite retreat for senior officers. But when the military hierarchy got wind of it, they scuttled the event. The generals also ensured that no premier hotel or restaurant would host the book launch, either. Siddiqa settled for a more discreet location in the offices of a sympathetic nongovernmental organization. But the military's effort to limit publicity only served to whet the public's appetite. For a book that is largely a dry, academic, and somewhat repetitive read, it is selling out at bookstores across the country, precisely because Pakistanis want to know if the armed services are as fat and privileged as they suspect.

They certainly are. As Siddiqa points out, the $4.6 billion defense budget is astounding enough -- especially considering that its budget isn’t debated by parliament, and that lawmakers simply rubber-stamp what the military-controlled government proposes. But what really sets the military apart are its mushrooming economic stakes, which have made the armed forces, especially the pampered officer corps, a financially independent, elite ruling class that enjoys benefits far beyond the usual perks of free housing, healthcare, education, clubs, and recreational facilities.

Land is arguably the military's biggest business and most lavish perk. Siddiqa offers an inside look at how the military's land grabs have made it the country's largest real estate developer and one of its biggest landlords. Using its political leverage, the military acquires both public and private lands at a fraction of market cost. It then develops the land, frequently using military-connected contractors, turning the projects into housing estates or commercial ventures such as shopping plazas. Senior officers are often allowed to purchase and quickly turn over several plots, making them overnight millionaires. Sometimes, the military simply takes what it wants. The paramilitary Rangers have seized fishing rights to more than 20 lakes in Sindh Province, further marginalizing hundreds of poor fishermen.

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