December 1, 2002

Musa Khan Jalalzai writes of the extraordinary presence of the military in the civil administration in Pakistan

Politics has become a ladder to climb to lucrative civilian jobs for the military in all states where it has seized power. Pakistan is no exception. Ayub Khan adopted this strategy during his rule and decided in 1960 to induct serving military officers permanently into the higher ranks of the civil services. This practice was discontinued in 1963. But retired officers continued to be appointed to top jobs in the government departments and semi-government corporations or were dispatched abroad on diplomatic assignments with good salaries and perks.

Ziaul Haq, whose military regime could not overcome the crisis of legitimacy, had to rely more heavily on the armed forces. This led him to distribute the rewards of power to his colleagues in the armed forces in a more consistent and extensive manner than any military ruler had done previously. He institutionalized the induction of the military personnel into civilian jobs in a manner that no succeeding civilian regime could reverse the trend. This has led to, what Finer describes as, the ‘military colonization’ of other institutions, whereby ‘the military acts as a reservoir or core for personnel for the sensitive institutions of the state’.

In 1980, a 10 per cent minimum quota was fixed for the military in civilian jobs which paved the way for the induction of army officers into all government and semi-government jobs. Three key methods are adopted for appointing military personnel to civilian jobs. First, some serving officers are given prize government jobs or top assignments in semi-government corporations and agencies for a specified period after which they return to their parent service. Secondly, retired military officers are recommended by the service headquarters to the government for reemployment against the quota. These are mostly renewable contract assignments....

Thirdly, the Ayubian practice of appointing serving officers permanently to the civil services was revived in 1980. The young officers were appointed to the elite cadres of the civil service on the recommendation of a military selection board. They join the combined training of the civil service probationers and get the advantage of their military service in seniority. Since 1980, nine of twelve military officers have joined the bureaucracy through this channel and the services generally preferred by them include the District Management Group (DMG), the Foreign Service and the Police Service.

At times, the civilian government has nominated some officers to the regular cadres of the civil services. Many of these inductees have blood relationship with the top brass or have been their ADCs. In a few cases connections with privileged political personalities have also helped. During 1980-85, 96 army officers were inducted into the selected cadres on a permanent basis, while 115 were employed on contracts. This practice has continued even after the military has pulled out of the government.

These measures have significantly increased the military presence in government and semi-government jobs. In mid-l982, 18 out of 42 ambassadors posted abroad came from the military. In 1992-93, half of the members of the Federal Public Service Commission were ex-army officers and, during 1995-96, three out of four provincial governors had an army background. Two elite research institutes in Islamabad — the Institute of Strategic Studies and the Institute of Regional Studies — have traditionally remained under the stewardship of retired senior officers of the armed forces or bureaucrats. The third reputed institute — the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs in Karachi — was headed by a retired major general for some time.

Four universities had retired army officers as their vice chancellors in the eighties and the nineties. Junior positions in the universities did not attract the officers, although some brigadiers held academic appointments in the Quaid-i-Azam University for some time in the 1980s; they were accommodated by changing the rules. The practice of inducting serving or retired officers to civilian intelligence agencies was reinforced in 1996-97.

A plan was prepared in 1997 to appoint army officers of the ranks of captain and colonels to the police, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on a permanent basis. This increased the army’s influence in these civilian agencies, thereby strengthening its intelligence gathering capability. This also enabled the army to provide alternative employment to those captains, majors and colonels who are not likely to be promoted.

Another source of the military’s increased influence is the allotment of agricultural land to its personnel. This tradition goes back to the British period when the colonial government distributed large tracts of land as a reward for military service. This practice continued in the post-independence years. Land in the Thal desert under the colonization scheme of the Punjab government was allotted on regimental basis for settling ex-servicemen’s families. Similarly, land was given to serving personnel in various schemes in the barrage areas, namely, Ghulam Mohammad, Taunsa and Guddu. The government gave land to the army for ex-service personnel of the Campbellpur, Jhelum, Kohat, Rawalpindi and Hazara districts which was distributed among them.... The practice of land grants under various schemes to military personnel, senior bureaucrats and other well-connected people has continued in Sindh and Punjab in the 1980s and the 1990s. The Punjab government allotted about 450,000 acres to 5,538 military personnel in 1977-85. Agricultural land was also allotted in other provinces, especially in Sindh, but the government did not release data on such allotments since most Sindhi leaders have often objected to the allotment of land to military personnel and bureaucrats, most of whom are non-Sindhi.

Excerpted with permission from
The crisis of state and security in Pakistan
By Musa Khan Jalalzai
Dua Publications, 25-C, Lower Mall, Lahore
Tel: 042-7325418. 
Email: wasishah786@hotmail.com
315pp. Rs450

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