Saturday, January 04, 2014
Landowner or military?
THE acquisition of land for military use has over the years become the acquisition of land for the military’s use: putting land acquired from private landowners to commercial use instead of for non-revenue generating, military purposes. And even where the land is put to genuine use for military purposes, the manner in which it is identified and acquired leaves a sense of a great privileged military class that can pick and choose from the very best alternatives — a class of super landlords that can have whatever it sets its heart on. Now, finally, a special Senate committee may begin to shine a light on the very opaque methods by which the military has come to own hundreds of thousands of acres of land and decide for itself what use to put it to.
To be sure, the sheer size of the armed forces means that its basic — and valid — needs will involve the legitimate and state-sanctioned appropriation at the market rate of many tracts of land. But also clear is that in the name of defence and national security, the military has built for itself a vast commercial empire that in fact detracts from the core training and preparedness that is required of any military. Take, for example, the particular issue the special Senate committee will also have a look at: the acquisition of privately owned land in Nowshera at knockdown rates by the military for building a firing range. Neither have the previous landowners been paid the market rate as required by the superior courts nor has the land been kept exclusively for the purposes it was acquired for. The Senate has been informed that presumably revenue-earning orchards also now stand on the multi-billion rupee tract of land.
The Nowshera case though is not even the tip of the iceberg. The most egregious example of publicly owned land put to private use for the enrichment of the military is the vast Defence Housing Authorities that have created enclaves of the super rich, all done in the name of creating an allegedly necessary incentive and rewards structure for army officers. In truth, however, it is a very public manifestation of the long-standing civil-military imbalance and the fact that the military is often seen as an institution that cannot be said ‘no’ to. But as the transition to democracy gathers pace, the old configuration of power must be challenged — and that will necessarily involve questioning how the military acquires and uses its assets, especially land. For too long even talk of the assertion of civilian supremacy was seen as an attempt to subjugate or humiliate the military. But it is really about constitutional subordination and the rule of law — where the military remains a strong force to carry out its core duties without taking undue advantage of its might.
Musharraf drama
THE hospitalisation of a prominent person in the dock is a diversion not entirely unknown to this country. Yet, on Thursday, the latest episode in the long-running tradition stood out for many reasons. It came at a juncture when most Pakistanis think that, after having invested heavily in democracy and the rule of law, they must now begin to reap some dividends of their labour. Retired Gen Pervez Musharraf had set the stage with his theatrical hand-on-heart vows just days before he was to appear in court. He had resorted to bravado in his effort to invoke the image of a diehard commando who was ready to fall but unwilling to bow before his persecutors. He appeared to have arranged his cards well, reminding everyone of his relationship with the army and hitting the target in his riposte to some politicians. Then came what many would describe as a formula anti-climax. The former general reported sick.
But really, an anti-climax? So what if the rule of law and democracy did not appear to be able to pin down the prized suspect for the time being. The moment was ripe for indulging in humour of all variety and for catharsis and the settling of old scores. Tongues spoke out, keyboards tapped and the torrent of emotion accumulating against the former dictator swept everything in its path. This was our chance to make fun of the coup-maker. This was our opportunity to expose the real man through the false façade he had been hiding behind all this while. The most democracy-loving — or simply fun-loving? — amongst us went as far as to say that what Gen Musharraf appeared to be suffering from was a doctored heart attack. The point is not whether the plea taken for absence from the court was false or not. That is for the judges to decide and for the doctors to figure out. The worrying part is the routine Pakistanis have made of ridiculing, and just that. It was natural that the idea of a uniformed constitution-breaker being held accountable would stimulate the atmosphere, but what ensued was rather short on substance and high on what Musharraf himself was accused of enacting: drama.
Lyari’s dispossessed
LYARI is perhaps the most blighted of all Karachi’s neighbourhoods. It has long been neglected by the state and the political groups who claim it as their bastion. To make matters worse, criminal gangs have been allowed to proliferate in its congested lanes and are now so powerful that even law enforcers fear treading on the gangsters’ turf. Numerous operations have failed to produce results, as criminal kingpins maintain their hold over Lyari, running it like their fiefdom. So powerful have the criminals become that they now dictate the lives of its forsaken residents. The eviction of hundreds of Christian and Hindu families from Lyari’s Slaughter House area is a prime example of the power that gangsters wield over Lyari. Members of the minority communities from the affected area, accompanied by representatives of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, came forward at a press conference in Karachi on Thursday to narrate their ordeal. What they had to say was harrowing; on Oct 26 last year criminals entered the Slaughter House area to evict its residents as they wanted to occupy the land. Some of the men were murdered and some of the women raped. The victims now lead nomadic lives, staying with relatives across the city.
These are the poorest of the poor. While all of Lyari’s residents live under the gangsters’ reign of terror, the plight of the Slaughter House residents is compounded by the fact that they are non-Muslim, making them more vulnerable. It is also shocking to hear the victims say that Rangers personnel stood by and did nothing when the criminals attacked them. How can a security force stand idle while citizens face threats? The Sindh government must ensure the residents of the Slaughter House area are rehabilitated and have safe access to their homes; they need to be given extra security in view of the threat from gangsters. In the long run, the problem of letting gangs operate in complete freedom must be addressed in earnest by the state.