Adil Najam
As was expected - but much more so than expected becasue of its timing - Ayesha Siddiqa’s new book Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy is causing waves in Pakistan and abroad.
True to form, the establishment has bothed up things even more than usual by trying to mess with the book’s launch in Islamabad. That only made the launch an even bigger news than it would have been. Here, for example, is the top of the page, front page news item from Dawn (June 1, 2007):
A book putting a critical spotlight on the military’s business nooks was launched from a virtual sanctuary on Thursday and some high-profile political reviewers seized upon it to denounce the army’s role in Pakistani politics.
The launching of the book, Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, by Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, a military analyst, was due to have taken place at the capital’s elitist Islamabad Club. But the author told a surprised audience that not only the club cancelled the booking of its auditorium, “all hotels in Islamabad were also told� by unspecified authorities not to allow the use of their halls for this, forcing the organisers to find a sanctuary at a third floor room provided by a non-governmental organisation.
PPP’s legal star Aitzaz Ahsan said the time had come to stand up against the military dominance while PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal accused Pakistan army generals of not learning a lesson from other countries that said goodbye to military rule. But some other speakers had a dig also at politicians for doing little to keep the military in check while being in power and at times celebrating the ouster of their rivals. Mr Aitzaz Ahsan said the expose of Ayesha, who puts the net worth of the army’s commercial empire at Rs200 billion, had come at a “defining moment� in Pakistan’s history following President Pervez Musharraf’s controversial charge-sheeting and suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
He narrated what he called the military’s moves in the past to convert Pakistan into a national security state contrary to the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of a welfare state and to forge an alliance with mullahs in search of an ideological justification for this, but said he thought now “a watershed has come�. Mr Ashan, who heads Justice Iftikhar’s legal team, saw “a turning point� in the March 9 presidential action against the chief justice that plunged the country into a judicial crisis and said: “We must grasp it.� Cheers went up in the congested premises of the NGO Leadership for Environment and Development as Mr Ahsan referred to what he called an unexpected “no� by the chief justice to the president’s demand for his resignation and, in a reference to the nationwide protest movement by lawyers, opposition political activists and the civil society, said: “The spillway of the Tarbela Dam has opened now.� He said although the chief justice would not speak about the presidential reference pending before the five-judge Supreme Judicial Council or his challenge to the reference before a 13judge bench of the Supreme Court, it was out of compulsion that an affidavit was filed on his behalf on Tuesday about what happened to him during his March 9 meeting with the president and for some days afterwards. “We were compelled to file that affidavit,� Mr Ahsan said, citing comments made by President Musharraf about the case as the reason.
Mr Iqbal rejected as a myth usual accusations holding politicians responsible for four military coups in Pakistan’s history and put the blame on what he called ambitions of army chiefs who toppled civilian governments from General Mohammad Ayub Khan, who later became field marshal, to General Musharraf. Comparing the ills of military interventions in politics to what cancer does to human body, he said Ayub Khan struck in October 1958 to pre-empt scheduled elections next year, while General Yahya Khan snatched power from him in 1969 at “virtual gunpoint� to prevent a handover to a National Assembly Speaker from then East Pakistan in the midst of a national democratic movement.
General Mohammad Zia-ulHaq, he recalled, seized power on June 5, 1977 a day after then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the opposition Pakistan National Alliance had agreed to hold fresh elections. He said Pakistan faced no bankruptcy despite international sanctions for its 1998 nuclear tests and “everything was normal� when General Musharraf, after being sacked, toppled then prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Oct 12, 1999. Mr Zafar Abbas, resident editor of Dawn, Islamabad, and Dr Farrukh Saleem, also complimented the 292-page book published by the Oxford University Press.
It speaks about the role of the military power in transforming the Pakistani society, armed forces becoming an independent class entrenched in the corporate sector and their five giant welfare foundations, or conglomerates, running thousands of businesses ranging from petrol pumps to industrial plants.
I have not yet read the book myself, however, I have talked about it with Ayesha many times - most recently in Boston some weeks ago - and am generally familiar with the thesis of the book. But, then, so is most of Pakistan. It is that the Military’s economic footprint has become too large for teh military’s own good. From cereal to banks to airlines, what she calls ‘Military Inc.’ is now everywhere in Pakistan’s economic life. Her argument is that this is nietehr good for Pakistan nor the military.
I am looking forward to reading and reviewing the book, which Ayesha has promised to send me soon. Meanwhile, we will keep an eye out for substantive reviews of this undoubtedly important work.
Here’s a scanned version of the book. Please buy a copy to protect the intellectual property rights of the author who put in a lot of work into it: http://chand.lums.edu.pk/~atifn/military-inc.pdf
A great effort at the right time. The army has never been questioned in Pakistan and this was about time.
Over generations, we were brainwashed in schools that Pakistan only produced heros from the military. The people who received Nishan-e-Haider are the only heros of Pakistan worth mentioning. Our army has conquered Pakistan over and over again and that is their only accomplishment.
Kargil was a fiasco and not even a single General was penalized for that. The army Generals are corrupt, land grabbers, drug barons and arms trafficers and they easily push the blame of all the debacles on civilians like Dr. Qadeer and the sort.
The army destablizes the open market economy by entering into fertilizers, banking, foods, etc and uses the subsidy of the government to compete in the open market. They cannot have this unfair advantage.
The natural progression now will be to question the legality of the political system, register cases against Musharraf and other generals for High Treason and HANG them for breaking the constitution.
In events like this, publishing of a very important book on a very important topic we get carried away blaming everything on one section of the society. We tend to behave with a mob mentality, completely ignoring the other equally responsible players i.e. Landlords, sardars, khan’s, chowdries, vaderas and rest of the blood suckers. And not forgetting people like sheikh Rashid ,altaf bhai, chowdries and many more..
Important thing to note is that, may be time has come when people are picking up the courage to ask question’s to the army and other blood suckers i.e corrupt political leaders who have for quite some time taken poor people of Pakistan for a ride.
I would like to believe that Pakistan is going through a very important period of its existence. Events in connection with the removal of chief justice, MQM’s behaviour on the 12th of May in Karachi, and publishing of this book are( may be) some indicators.
In the end I would like to request everybody that, we should not forget that we belong to the same country. And we are all suffering from these people’s
Take care , Khudahafiz
M masud
[quote]13 Jun 07 - Book Launch & Talk - Dr Ayesha Siddiqa
On Wednesday 13 June 2007 Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, Military Analyst, Pakistan, will launch her new book Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy and talk about the subject. The event will be from 1-2pm.
Dr Ayesha Siddiqa is a military analyst based in Islamabad with a doctorate in War Studies from King’s College, London. She contributes regularly to Jane’s Defence Weekly. She was the ‘Pakistan scholar’ at the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars at Washington, DC for 2004-05. Her first book was Pakistan’s Arms Procurement and Military Buildup, 1979-99 (2001).
The UK release of her latest book, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, will take place at the same time. Copies will be available to buy at the event.
This meeting will take place on the Fourth Floor at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP Kathleen James on E-mail:james@iiss.org or Tel: 020 7395 9109[/quote]
http://www.iiss.org/events-calendar/this-month/boo k-launch–talk-ayesha-siddiqa
it is a great contribution for pakistan.I do want to know more about the General’s corruption.I wanna tell you that this is the book i was awaiting for long.Dr.Ayesha is a great lady in the sense of politics for me.I salute Dr.Ayesha
The book by Dr. Aisha has started to show at least some effect on Army Economy. The latest news is that Army Owned bank ‘Askari Commercial Bank’ is changing its name….
Army must go back and take care of borders to safeguard the country which is due to U-Turn on Afghan Policy by Mr.Musharaf has not only destroyed the image of Pakistan in all over the world but also left this country into dangers from all cornors. Pakistan Army is the only Army of a country who has not only attacked on different parts of its own country but also in some cases Missile technology has been used. We must buck-up Dr. Ayesha’s effort to write a book showing some inners of Pak Army’s Generals corruptions. May be we can differ from some of its paragraphs but we have to salute the courage shown by Dr. Ayesha.
Musharaf should go back at home and take the rest in the remaining period of his life — otherwise we are foreseeing a bloodshed in this country not only Army versus Judiciary but also Army versues Pakistani Nation.
Only possibility is to save this country from any disaster is to conduct free and fair election under the auspices of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
i admire doctor ayesha siddiqa for writting the book military inc , inside pakistans military economy ,. i have not yet read the book , but i know that its about pakistans military economy . she has exposed pakistans military economy .
what right does the army and the government have to stop her book from being launched ?,. its is her constitutional right to write any thing she wants to .
i completely agree with atzaz ahsan when he says that it is time to stand up against the military dominance, the army has nothing to do with polictics, they have no right to rule pakistan . pakistan has had enough of military rule , enough is enough . we want democarcy.