Every common Indian who reads or watches television very well knows the troubled politics of our western neighbor and its sham democracy. Most of us even know how the puppet governments get created out of thin air and are completely controlled by the Military (primarily the Army). India too has its share of corruption, political turmoil, wars, irresponsible governments, and power-hungry politicians, however, these experiences are nowhere close to what our neighbors have gone through. Now, I am not saying that we need to be sympathetic towards Pakistan, I am just conveying that the situation there is significantly different and the Pakistani public has been witness to such events post 1947 that we as Indians cannot even imagine. I am no expert on Pakistan affairs so I am open for corrections and views that you can share via comments.
14 August 1947 the day when Pakistan was created from Bharat and what was left with us was India. The two arms of Bharat Mata cut off and the creation was called Pakistan. A political compromise (a malicious plan of the Allied Powers) which will be remembered as one of the biggest mistakes of the 20th Century. The way I see it is, the leaders of Pakistan in those days and probably even now perceive Pakistan as "Not India" and somehow infested a deep sense of insecurity in the minds of its people, thereby making way for the Military to attain the role of guardian of the state.
Post partition India got itself a Constitution in under 3 years and declared itself a Republic, however, our western neighbor was devoid of a constitution for 9 long years up until the year 1956. The primary reason for this long wait was a political tussle between the West and East Pakistan aristocrats who fortunately or unfortunately could not think beyond their personal agenda. They kept on exchanging the positions of Prime Minister and Governor-General between themselves. From 1947 to 1958 in 11 years, Pakistan had seven prime ministers and eight cabinets. One important name among these aristocrats was Iskandar Ali Mirza. Mirza started his career with the British Indian Army and later his abilities brought him to prominence and resulted in him getting appointed by the British Indian Government as the Joint Defence Secretary of India in 1946 (remember this was pre-partition era). In this position, he was responsible for dividing the British Indian Army into the future armies of India and Pakistan. Around this time, he became closer to Liaquat Ali Khan (the first Prime Minister of Pakistan) and began forming relations with the politicians of the Muslim League. He was appointed as first Defence Secretary by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and as Defence Secretary, he oversaw the military efforts in the first India-Pakistan war. In 1950, Mirza was promoted to two-star rank, having skipped the one-star promotion as Brigadier, and upgraded his rank as Major-General in the Pakistan Army by the promotion papers approved Liaquat Ali Khan himself. Likewise, with his strong influence he was successful in getting Ayub Khan appointed as the Army Chief in the year 1951 a controversial promotion over several senior officers. Political influence was the key to reach the top for Mirza and he perfected the task, later in the year 1955 became the Governor-General of Pakistan. With all the doings or misdoings of Iskandar Mirza there was a new powerhouse getting created in the background named Ayub Khan who was later going to be the reason for Mirza's exile. In 1956, when the country got its constitution with all his political might Mirza got himself elected as the first President of Pakistan which did not last long, soon he committed the biggest blunder of his life of declaring martial law. He ordered the mass mobilization of the military and imposed emergency in the country after declaring the martial law against his own party's administration which was led by Prime Minister Feroze Khan Noon by abrogating the writ of the Constitution and dissolving the national and provisional assemblies on 7th October 1958. He then appointed the Army Chief Ayub Khan as the Chief Martial Law Administrator, thinking that Ayub was his own man whom he can rely on. The two-man political regime as it was known had two different points of view and Mirza's fate did not last long. On the midnight of 27th October 1958 Ayub Khan dispatched the military unit to enter the presidential palace and placed Mirza in an airplane to exile in the UK. This was the end of Mirza's political career and the start of the direct Army dominance on the Pakistan politics.
With Mirza out of the political scene, Ayub had a free hand to manage the country at his will and it lasted from 1958 to 1969. The Military dominance in the earlier years before the martial law imposition was significant mainly in the fields of defense and foreign policy, which later increased in all the areas of governance. Post-partition Pakistan maintained a strong affiliation towards the United States which helped it to improve its Military capabilities and stranglehold of the army over the country grew stronger. The martial law imposed in the year 1958 stayed on for the next 4 years when in 1962 Ayub Khan introduced a second constitution. Even with all this dominance of the Army, it did not push for total control and partnered with the civil bureaucracy to run the government. (Ayesha Siddiqa in her book The Military Inc. calls this phase 'guided democracy' where the Military was to teach people how to democratize.) The introduction of the new constitution in 1962 was a move from parliamentary democracy to more of a presidential system where Ayub Khan became indirectly elected President. During his time he even favored inducting the military officers into civil service which helped him grow his control over the politics. He was also instrumental in helping the Military build for itself an economic empire. Howsoever, strong a military dictator is, there is always an end to his rule, with Ayub Khan it was the Military's need for protecting its public image which resulted in him getting replaced by Yahya Khan. Yahya Khan's stepping up to power can be called a coup in a coup. Another very important reason for Yahya replacing Ayub Khan was the disconnect between Ayub Khan and the various ranks in the military after he designated himself the Field Marshall (this was similar to Pt. Nehru awarding himself with the Bharat Ratna.)
It was the start of the '70s when Yahya Khan got on to the seat of the President. For him becoming the President was easy, however, keeping it was way tougher as the situation in the country had changed a lot with the civilian politicians gathering public support. Yahya decided to hold elections in 1970 expecting a favorable civilian regime. The most unexpected outcome of the '70's elections was that a party led by the East Pakistan politician (later Bangladesh) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called the Awami League won by a massive majority. Awami League winning the elections with the majority it has was a sign of explosion of long-suppressed Bengali nationalism. It can be considered as a referendum in favor of a political autonomy for East Pakistan and help stop the partial treatment of the eastern citizens of Pakistan. The then President Yahya Khan succumbed to political pressure by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's PPP (Pakistan People's Party) of not allowing a majority eastern wing party Awami League to form a government. The tussle between the two sides led to the uprising in the Eastern wing of Pakistan with the demand for a separate Bangladesh. The army atrocities on its eastern wing subjects were so extreme that it resulted in millions of people migrating to India to seek refuge. (To know more about the suffering of the Bengali people please read the book by Gary J. Bass The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide). Indian army helped the Bengali Mukti Bahini which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani army and this was the end of Yahya Khan as the President. He had to step down as the loss was considered a failure of the army and Yahya Khan had to make the sacrifice as an act of face-saving for the army. For the first time in its existence as a country Pakistan came under the rule of a civilian government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto with an exception of the initial few years when it did not have a constitution. In 1973 a third constitution was introduced and Pakistan was back to parliamentary democracy with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto taking oath as the Prime Minister. With all his efforts of holding on to power, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto could not avoid his fate, and on 4/5 of July 1977 Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq executed a coup and declared himself as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. The third martial law in the history of Pakistan in three decades, which showed the stronghold of the army. One important reason apart from the political situation for the execution of the coup was again the public image of the Military and the economic interests of the Armed forces. It is said that Zia-ul-Haq was instrumental in Islamization of the Pakistan as a whole and in particular its Military. Zia introduced religious education into military training and instructed all commanders to ensure that prayers were offered by the officers and soldiers. The army under Zia used the intelligence agencies to manipulate the political parties, kept revising the constitutional framework, and thereby created a political vacuum which favored the army dominance contributing to the economic progress of the Armed forces. Zia used Islam as a shield in seeking public support for his continuation of power and till his death in 1988 in a mysterious plane crash remained the serving Army General and the President of Pakistan.
The strong groundwork by all these people led to the domination of Military in the Pakistani politics whereby it reaps the benefits in economic terms. We can even say that, the main aim of the Pakistani Military is not to protect its borders but, to protect its economic empire and any politician who comes and challenges this economic empire is sure to pay the price. Below I have listed down the various army organizations which are big corporations under the guise of Military welfare.
1. Fauji Foundation (FF) - established 1954 (Foundation Gas, Fauji Corn Complex, Fauji Security Services, Fauji Sugar Mills, Overseas Employment Services, Fauji Cement Company Ltd, Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Ltd, Foundation Securities Pvt Ltd, Fauji Oil Terminal & Distribution Company Ltd, Foundation University)
2. Army Welfare Trust (AWT) - established in 1971. This was created with the reason for focusing on army specific welfare as under the Fauji Foundation all the Military services have their share. (Askari Stud Farms, Askari Farms, Askari Welfare Rice Mill, Askari Welfare Sugar Mill, Askari Fish Farm, Askari Cement, Askari Welfare Pharmaceutical Project, Magnesite Refineries Limited, Army Welfare Shoe Project, Army Welfare Woollen Mill, Army Welfare Hosiery Unit, Travel agencies, AWT commercial plaza, Army Welfare Shops, Army Welfare Commercial Projects, Askari Commercial Bank, Askari Leasing Ltd, Askari General Insurance Company, Askari Welfare Saving Scheme, Askari Associate Ltd, Askari Information Service, Askari Guards Ltd, Askari Power Ltd, Askari Commercial Enterprises, Askari Housing Scheme.)
3. Shaheen Foundation (SF) - established in 1977. This was created with reason similar to AWT for focusing on the welfare of Pakistan Air Force. (Shaheen Air International, Shaheen Air Cargo, Shaheen Airport Services, Shaheen Aerotraders, Shaheen Insurance, Shaheen Travel, Shaheen Complex, Shaheen Pay TV, FM-100 (Radio channel), Shaheen System (Information Technology), Shaheen Knitwear.)
4. Bahria Foundation - established in 1982 Pakistan Navy was only left in having its own welfare foundation and hence in the year 1982 Bahria Foundation was established. (Falah Trading Agency, Bahria Construction, Bahria Travel & Recruiting Agency, Bahria Paints, Bahria Deep Sea Fishing, Bahria Complexes, Bahria Town & Housing Schemes, Bahria Dredging, Bahria Bakery, Bahria University, Bahria Shipping, Bahria Coastal Services, Bahria Security & System Services, Bahria Catering & Decoration Services, Bahria Farming, Bahria Holding, Bahria Harbor Services, Bahria Ship Breaking, Bahria Diving & Salvage International.)
By just going through the above list we get to know the expanse of the economic empire of the Military and can surely be compared with a regular private corporation. Some of these areas of business may be areas of expertise for the respective wings of the Military, however, when you start to see names like Cement, Pharmaceuticals, FM radio, Sugar Mills, Catering, Hosiery, Construction, Farms etc it highlights the opportunism of the Military, where it is ready to do whatever it takes to make money. Even in the case where these commercial ventures were helping the general public at large, I can agree that it is worth having this kind of corporate style expansion by Military, however, the fact is these ventures are there to fill in the pockets of the Military Generals and top officers. It is kind of a vicious circle where the Military has a mighty economic empire to protect, so it controls the politics through which it controls the country, and when enjoying its position it keeps expanding its commercial ventures, getting back on the need to protect it.
In the year 1648 the Treaty of Westphalia resulted in the separation of church and state and it is said that this is the basis on which the modern concept of Nation-state is based on. I think today's Pakistan is in dire need for separation of Military and State, the control of religion on Pakistan I guess its not that big a problem when compared to its Military. Out of 73 years of its existence the majority of the period the country was controlled by the Military either directly or indirectly. 70 plus years is a long time for people to realize that Military dominance is no solution for their own well being.
