28 April 2005	Thursday	18 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 27: Senators of the Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP) debated the allotment of lands to the military officers on Tuesday as the government revealed the commercial ventures of the defence forces before the Upper House on Tuesday. Debating what he said were incidents of state repression against political workers, Senator Farhatullah Babar said the March 31 strike by the PONAM was against the erosion of provincial autonomy, construction of Kalabagh dam and also the allotment of prime lands to the military officers in the Saraiki area for which the Thar canal was now being built.

He said there was nothing wrong with PONAM demands as over 48,000 acres of land had been distributed among 6,150 military officers in Cholistan and Thal until 1985. Another over 500,000 acres were further allotted to personnel of the defence forces between 1985 and 2005, he said, adding, a recently published report showed that the land was allotted to some 100 officers of the rank of brigadier and above.

Senator Babar said there was nothing wrong if PONAM had highlighted the issue as the British High Commissioner in Islamabad had also done the same recently when he pointed out that during the last 28 years the military’s corporate business interests had increased manifold at the cost of poverty reduction efforts in the country and also the effectiveness of the bureaucracy and judiciary.

Senator Babar said the Human Rights Watch in its latest report remarked the military has acted with increasing impunity to enforce its writ over the state and to protect its grip over Pakistan’s economic resources specially its land.

He said that apart from UK High commissioner and the HRW criticism, the military’s occupation of lands had also been resented and protested by the ministry of defence itself. Senator Babar then read out an advertisement in an Urdu newspaper which he said was published on September 2, 2004.

In the advertisement the Defence Ministry had announced to the general public that the 117 Brigade stationed in Kohat in the Frontier province had illegally occupied the state land in the city and constructed illegal buildings on it. The advertisement also warned the general public not to deal with the 117 Brigade headquarter in the renting, sale and purchase of shops and offices in the building.

Senator Babar said if the defence ministry, which is the controlling ministry of the defence services was helplessly complaining against the illegal occupation of state lands by a brigade headquarter, what was wrong with the British High Commissioner or the Human Rights Watch or PONAM making the same complaint.

Earlier, in response to a question by Senator Babar, the defence ministry informed the House that Army Welfare Trust, Fauji Foundation, Shaheen Foundation and Bahria Foundation were running a number of projects ranging from manufacturing boots to aviation business.