21.07.2013 Pakistan and Army
“Pakistan: The Garrison State” deals with ever-expanding influence of the Pakistan army over political, social, and economic milieus in Pakistan since 1947
By Helal Pasha
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed’s recent book “Pakistan: The Garrison State”, published in 2013, by Oxford University Press, immediately after his seminal work “The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed” in 2011, is a remarkable achievement in terms of time spent on research, reviewing numerous sources, and analysing multiple events spread well over 70 years. His dedication in recording Pakistan’s history and unearthing, previously unknown, undocumented events is laudable. Dr Ishtiaq travelled extensively, interviewed incredibly large number of people, including former president Gen. Musharraf, and many top India army officers.
As the title suggests, the book principally deals with ever-expanding influence of the Pakistan army over political, social, and economic milieus in Pakistan since 1947. In the last decade, luminaries such as Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Ayesha Siddiqa, Ahmed Rashid, and many others wrote books discussing the Pakistan army. Ayesha Siddiqa’s Military Inc. stands out for her breakthrough research in detailing the army’s flourishing entrepreneurial endeavours and control of the economy.
Ironically, the army is more or less openly involved in business and industry highlighting most of its enterprises by using prefix ‘Fauji’ (army man in vernacular) or ‘Defense’, and there is nothing secret about it. Siddiqa did not focus entirely on army’s business interests. She veered off to itemising personal monetary benefits enjoyed by the generals. That triggered a backlash and an angry retort by the generals.
Dr Ishtiaq takes a different route. He starts off by examining ideological inclination of the army. His inquisitiveness on the use of metaphor ‘Fortress of Islam’ by a former president in his speech, in 2001, ignited the urge to get to the core of such a haughty vow. The result is a phenomenal book that will make scholars’ proud libraries richer, and readers immensely conversant with insight from the early development of the idea of Pakistan to a state incapable of untying the Gordian knot for the last several decades. “Pakistan is Islam’s fortress,” an arrogant declaration adopted by Pakistan army from an old Jamaat-e-Islami political slogan during the army rule in the 1980s. The army concomitantly embraced “Jihad, for Allah” as one of the armed forces guiding maxim around the same time.
The book largely deals with the ideological progression translated into political dominance of the army over the country, as well. Primarily, due to the ideological mishmash of the independence movement, the Pakistan army catapulted itself as indubitable protector, and arbiter of the ideology of the nation after independence.
Dr Ishtiaq seeks to decipher the origins of the concept garrison state that certainly is not a religious concept. The roots of garrison state are in the early human development along with the concepts of area boundaries and protection of communities.
The first question that needed to be resolved was: whether Pakistan is a garrison state or not? A dominating army does not make a garrison state. He has candidly pointed out, despite the ominous cries of military-industrial complex, US is not a garrison state. Many historian and defense analysts would not accept it kindly. The Pentagon’s influence extends far beyond just the defense policy. There are many institutions including the largest eavesdropping organisation in the world, National Security Agency (NSA) that report to the Pentagon and information to the White House is filtered through the Pentagon. Pentagon usually overrides the US Foreign Office.
Dr Ishtiaq rightly implies that the purpose of small forts or fortresses or cantonments now, was primarily to keep the populations under control. The British extended the concept when they organised the volunteer army in undivided India. Their patterns of recruitment solidified the Pakistan army’s influence on certain areas of the country.
Dr Ishtiaq then embarks upon a discussion assessing national security state and garrison state. He traces the roots, the reasons, the Mughal and the British influences that Pakistan inherited. He enforces his views using strong arguments by various academics.
He concludes that Pakistan fits the profile of a garrison state. He observes that Pakistan can continue as a post-colonial garrison state as long as the donors are proving the required resources. At this point, the reader is left with only one answer: Pakistan will probably disappear as soon as the donors lose interest in Pakistan. Is that an accurate conclusion?
Dr Ishtiaq pronouncement appears to be rushed and needs further examination. Having cantonments, large army, and overbearing generals, does not qualify Pakistan to be billed as a garrison state. Considering that the garrisons are supposed to help in controlling the population and frontiers, Pakistan army’s garrisons are located smack in the middle of the large cities that render them useless in their basic functions.
Cantonments in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Multan, Gujranwala, and many other cities do not intimidate the population. They are commercial hubs, and it would be better for the army to sell the prime lands, and use the proceeds to take the cantonments as far away from the cities as possible. Money from selling two cantonment Karachi and Hyderabad would finance almost ten new cantonments in rural areas.
However, these cantonments are a major source of income for the army and former army personnel. Similar to the business interests that Ayesha Siddiqa pointed out in her book. The new breed of army officers and generals prefer to stay close to the cities, and personal comfort takes precedent over war readiness.
The harsh reality is that looking at the current state of affairs, Pakistan might qualify as a dysfunctional national security state that is, paradoxically, incapable of supporting its security needs. The state acquired nuclear option, as the US looked the other way to maintain balance of power in the region. The US still provides finances for the maintenance of nuclear warheads.
A garrison state or a security state; the Pakistan army still manages to control the country in many ways, and the distinction between the two does not diminish the quality of the book and effort that has gone in to documenting complex, controversial, and highly noticeable army position in Pakistan politics.
To be concluded
Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed is a Lahore born Swedish political scientist and author. He is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University. Readers in India and Punjab enthusiastically welcomed his previous book “The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed”. The book won him many laurels including ‘Best Non-Fiction Book’ Prize at Karachi Literary Festival in 2013.