Pakistan’s Military Industrial Complex: An Ancilliary to China
Pakistan always remain in the limelight for one reason or the other. Majority of times it is the domestic political situation that wreaks havoc. Nearly 75 years since it was formed and still it didn’t have any single elected Prime Minister that could run a government for a complete tenure. It was speculated that PM Imran Khan might break this curse, but unfortunately, it was too soon a predication to make provided the country in this case is Pakistan. Imran Khan could not survive the no-confidence motion against him, and the government fell apart, paving way for the new PM Shehbhaz Sharif.
Nevertheless, the silver lining of these dark clouds remained that the entire procedure followed the constitutional road along with a role of the judiciary. This is especially important since all the previous elected governments were toppled by the Military establishment of the country, and made Pakistan a quintessential example of ‘Military-Industrial Complex’.
Military Industrial Complex refers to the relationship that a state’s military have with the defense industry that supplies weapons, and other war essentials. It is generally assumed that since their interests are intertwined, they pursue public policy that benefits both equally. This term was popularized by the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower during his farewell speech. Pakistan’s hawkish approach towards its neighbors along with its prolonged disturbed domestic politics was considered by many experts as a result of this relationship between the military and the industry.
In addition to saving the interest of the corporate interest, the approach has also given enormous political power to Pakistan’s military. This has been the biggest obstacle in introducing any reforms in the country. Pakistan’s political leaders have been vocal about its repercussions. National Assembly speaker Elahi Buksh Soomro brought to light that the military didn’t allow them to discuss the issues related to military businesses and expenditure in the parliament. They had no agency in their own country. This further created structural problems in exercising civilian control in country’s national and security affairs. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quershi once confessed that it was due to the operation of military-industrial complex in Pakistan that politicians turned a blind eye to crucial security issues. With time this relationship got deeply entrenched in the system that it became nearly impossible to untangle it. The military within Pakistan had an empire that was indestructible.
A direct effect that this structure had was on the power of Parliament. The parliament exercised no direct power, and was operational as a rubber stamp only. It was not able to formulate any foreign policies or debate the crucial issues. However, the civil society tried to bring down military’s nexus but with control of institutions the Military propagated the myth that the politicians are incapable of taking any decision and keep country’s security intact. This started molding the public opinion in the favor of the army, and increasingly, citizens started giving legitimacy to the operations of the military. Moreover, important fact finding reports by Commissions were pushed under carpet to keep the complex from falling. Abbottadbad Commission Report never saw light of the day, whereas the famous War Enquiry Commission Report was made public after 29 years. This unparalleled authority spoke volumes about how the military has encroached all spheres of influence.
Every time the military felt that its interests are being compromised, it started selling the propaganda that the country’s survival is at risk. This warmongering allowed them to exploit public fears and frustrations on the one hand, while on the other it gave the military power to suppress any political voice that questioned the military’s decision. Civilian governments were not even allowed to talk about let alone investigate any military commercial enterprises. Any such act was considered treacherous and against the spirit of the state.
This hyper military industrial complex allowed Pakistan’s military elite to safeguard its interest especially following the end of the Cold War. Initially, the governments tried to counter the military forces, but after the 1988 elections this control became explicit. A diarchy system started to exist in Pakistan, where the power was divided between the Parliament and the Military with the latter having an upper hand in most of the cases. Former PM Bhutto while assuming power agreed to the dominance of military in strategic issues of the country. Furthermore, all the important ministerial profiles including the foreign ministry, interior ministry and finance ministry was held by the Military. The control didn’t end here. Military was constantly involved in tweaking the results of elections in their interest. This allowed puppet candidates to win elections and act as dummy Prime Minister.
The Military even kept political parties from coming together as a single force against them. It used various tactics to keep political parties at loggerheads with each other. During the election campaigns in 1990, it was alleged that the military gave out nearly PKR40 million to the anti-PPP forces. As a consequence, Bhutto lost the elections. Thereafter, all the elections in the country were rigged and never completed their tenure. The manufactured political instability by the army also affected Pakistan’s economy and pushed the masses into extreme poverty while the military and the industries minted millions.
Apart from interfering in elections, the military also exploited public sentiments and fueled their anger by invoking religious fundamentalism along with instilling jingoistic fervor in masses. This hyper-nationalism started breeding a cult that sought military rule as the viable solution to Pakistan’s problems. This also allowed them to silence any criticism as it would be branded anti-national and un-patriotic. Many independent journalists and bloggers were attacked including TV anchor Hamid Mir. The message was clear, dissent meant death. Hence, the power of the military was becoming unchallenged on all ends.
To keep the lobby full of loyalists, Military started recruiting retired personnel from the military services to prominent civilian jobs and businesses. In 1998 alone, nearly 35,000 army people were deployed in the Water Power Development Authority (WPDA). In addition, to keep the public opinion in its favor, the military started taking charge of media through Inter Service Public Relations Pakistan (ISPR), and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). These outlets sell the ‘India Threat’ to the public along with sensationalizing the famous ‘Kashmiri Issue’.
The Military didn’t stop at taking charge of the external affairs. Gradually, it extended its control by taking charge of public administration, infrastructure, state’s education and schools, paramilitary forces, internal security, and other petty matters. The control of the paramilitary forces was an essential component of this power expansion. It gave it control of the provincial capitals like Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi. The power of the military has also been secured by the judiciary under the garb of ‘extra-constitutional acts by the military’. Hence, they became immune from all fronts. Furthermore, the military never shied from joining hands with Jihadist forces, or extremist groups to keep peddling their agenda. They started relying heavily on militant groups to pursue their interest in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
In addition, there has been a proliferation in weapons, or a back end support provided by China to keep this nexus going. China has been Pakistan’s largest defense supplier. This alliance goes back to 1980s when China provided Pakistan with scientific expertise and technology to make nuclear weapons. Moreover, it has been the key player in development of ballistic missiles in 1990s. The most explicit point of this Military Cooperation was 1992 when China supplied 34 short ranged ballistic M-11 missiles to Pakistan. The cooperation has ever since deepened and included sales of weapons like JF-17 aircraft along with its production facilities, F-22P frigates with helicopter, F-7 aircraft, K-8 jet trainers, T-85 tanks and various small arms and ammunitions. Furthermore, China also helped in building a turnkey ballistic missile creating industry around the city of Rawalpindi that aided Pakistan in the development of 750-km range, solid fueled Shaheen-1 ballistic missile. Despite all the fingers or sanctions raised against Pakistan by the United States, China has continued to extend undisputed support. Primarily to counter the Indian agency in the region, and keep Pakistan as a hawkish front to disturb the status quo. Notwithstanding the international backlash that the nuclear program had, China supported it throughout and even helped Pakistan in building two nuclear reactors at the Chasma site in the Punjab Province. Furthermore, the work on Gwadar Port has been in full swing. It will be a deep-sea port that will facilitate and secure China’s oil and gas supplies to the Gulf. This transnational element of the military industrial complex often goes unnoticed but is intact within the system. China exploits this position by bombarding it with weapon support on all levels. This in turns kick starts a vicious cycle that makes it almost impossible to break out of nexus that operates.
To conclude, Pakistan’s failure as a state owes a lot to the operational ‘military-industrial complex’ that has remained unchecked and unparalleled for decades now. It has been a major roadblock in its development. Moreover, apart from endless domestic repercussions, it has also created difficulties externally. Due to continued warmongering to keep the complex content, the aspirations of a stable South Asia, or a peaceful neighborhood has been crushed by the Military over and over again. The roots of this relationships are deeply entrenched in Pakistan’s state and society. Therefore, it would require weeding out the culprits at all levels, or cut down on these elements if needed to let the land bloom.
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Pic Courtesy-Ali Muhammad at unsplash.com
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)
