Whose land is it, anyway, Generals?
By
Irfan Husain (Mazdak)
An
old friend was recently invited to a serving general's official
residence for a small dinner party, and came away hugely impressed
by the acres of immaculate lawns, the discreet lighting, the tasteful
furnishings and the overall level of luxury.
And
it was all in good taste, he added. Nothing vulgar or ostentatious.
The food and refreshments were of the highest quality, and the
army staff who served the small gathering had apparently been
trained at a five-star hotel. My friend who is an industrialist
and lives in a fairly large, comfortable house, was so bowled
over that he declared that his home was fit only to be the servants'
quarters to the general's residence. I, for one, am glad my taxes
are being put to good use.
Recently,
the web-based journal, the South Asian Tribune, ran a long list
of serving and retired generals who had been allotted large tracts
of agricultural land. This is nothing new: army officers have
been awarded land for distinguished service for decades. Indeed,
when General Musharraf staged his coup three years ago, he made
his assets public. The portfolio was so impressive that those
who have an idea about property prices were of the opinion that
the general was worth nothing less than a hundred million rupees.
Of
course, there is no suggestion of impropriety here: all these
transactions are within the rules. Perhaps the biggest boondoggle
of all is the phenomenon of Defence Housing Societies that have
mushroomed in virtually every urban centre. During British rule,
huge swathes of land were allocated to the army for strictly military
purposes. Mostly, this was unproductive land far from city centres.
But with the inexorable growth of our cities, this land became
prime property, and under Ayub Khan, much of it was handed over
by GHQ to the Defence Housing Authority that proceeded to parcel
it off to serving and retired military personnel for residential
purposes at throw-away prices.
In
no time at all, these plots were flogged to civilians at several
times their purchase price and palatial houses have been built
on them over the years. These localities are now the most prestigious
housing colonies in the country. In India, by contrast, no such
conversion has taken place. Indeed, I believe civilians cannot
reside permanently in military cantonments. In Pakistan, the military
runs the largest real estate operation in the country.For years,
large chunks of borderland have been handed over to retired army
officers on the bizarre pretext that they will be able to train
their agricultural workers, and thus form a barrier against invading
Indian forces. The thought of poor peasants armed with scythes
facing Indian tanks would be hilarious if one were to ignore the
underlying purpose of the exercise.
The
current standoff in Okara between peasants and the Rangers underlines
the gulf between the military's needs and popular sentiment. Thousands
of farmers whose forefathers have been tilling this land in the
vicinity of the Military Dairy Farms for a century are being forced
to forfeit tenancy rights and sign short-term contracts that could
easily result in their eviction if they are unable to fulfil the
terms of the contracts a couple of years down the road. Rangers
have virtually surrounded the area, and have even prevented the
visit of the wife of a European ambassador and a Newsweek reporter
from talking to the besieged peasants.
Without
getting into the rights and wrongs of this dispute, I would like
to know why the army is in the business of running a dairy farm
at all. I know the Military Dairy Farms were inherited from the
British army at independence. But since then, much progress has
been made and there are a number of agri-businesses that process
and sell milk and other dairy products all over the country. I
know it is very nice for our military officers and their families
to get fresh milk, but if packaged milk is good enough for the
rest of us, why can't the military drink it? The whole concept
of the military running dairy farms is an anachronism that needs
to be ended.
The
perks don't end here: military personnel are entitled to a 50
per cent discount on air and rail fares as well as cinema tickets.
Their children have a quota at most public universities, and serving
and retired officers are routinely inducted into civilian jobs.
This was institutionalized by Zia who had a percentage fixed for
military personnel in all the civil service groups.
All
this gives the military as a class a huge incentive to stay in
power, either directly or indirectly. The first instinct of any
class is to protect its power and privileges, and in this the
army is no exception. The corollary to wielding power is that
the political parties must remain weak and divided so that they
cannot challenge the supremacy of the military because more than
ever before, the two are rival contenders for political power.
From the army's point of view, the logic of this situation dictates
that if a political party is elected to office, it must be kept
off-balance, and every attempt must be made to discredit it.
So
far, politicians have blithely cooperated through their incompetence
and greed. Squabbling among themselves, they have given the military
every opportunity to paint them as the villains. For well over
a decade, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have been at daggers
drawn, seeking to use the army against each other. Until recently,
they simply did not understand that they were strengthening the
military class by their antics.
But
General Musharraf's insistence on sidelining both leaders and
decimating their parties has had the ironic effect of bringing
them together on the same platform. For the first time, they have
seen that the only way to make the military subservient to the
political system is to join hands. Granted they were almost forced
to this conclusion, but Musharraf's wheeling and dealing may well
have the opposite impact from the one he desires.
All
indications are that short of massive poll rigging, the PPP and
Nawaz Sharif's section of the PML will command a sizable majority
in the National Assembly. This will be specially true after the
two parties have completed their on-going electoral adjustments.
Whether they use this majority to clip the army's wings, or as
leverage in a power game remains to be seen. But the currently
adverse situation can be transformed into a unique opportunity
by the two mainstream parties to finally reassert the supremacy
of civil society. Whether they have the wisdom and the maturity
to do so remains to be seen. - Courtesy Dawn
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