The misfortune of the military’s control of Pakistani life has been increasingly entrenching with time. For decades, it has integrated itself into the political and economic affairs of the country to the extent it has morphed and assumed the shape of a business conglomerate, with a stake in almost every sector. Its presence is virtually ubiquitous through its permeation into every sphere of Pakistani life.
One of the ways through which the Pakistani Army engineers its control of state institutions is through its modus operandi of strategic appointments. Through this, the Army influences the appointment, including of serving or retired army officers, in the key positions as heads of influential state-owned agencies and enterprises. These appointments of army officers in key leadership positions, disregarding the appointment rules and regulations, including professional qualifications, allow the Army significant power to shape economic policies and decision-making in their interests. This is manifested by agencies like Suparco, WAPDA, NADRA, and NAB, among others.
One of the most crucial interventions with far-reaching political implications pertains to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). It is entrusted with regulating government databases and managing the registration of Pakistani citizens. Its significance in the broader context of controlling, supervising and governing Pakistan has increased because of its collaboration with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) since 2011, as it provides “technical assistance…for preparation, printing and supply of electoral rolls.”
In recent months, the Army-led establishment has made important amendments to the rules for appointing a chairman to this sensitive agency. This comes following a significant incident in November 2022 when tax data maintained by NADRA, including information about then Army Chief Qamar Bajwa and his family members, was leaked. The leaked information showed how General Bajwa’s family wealth fortunes, through tax evasion and fraudulent means, rose steeply during his two-term tenure since 2016 to over PKR 12.7 billion ($56 million). The publication of this damning report, with its irrefutable evidence, brought focus on the chronic corruption within the Army establishment, especially in light of its self-proclaimed rhetoric of maintaining moral superiority within Pakistan’s often-corrupt government machinery.
It has been speculated that the premature resignation of former NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik on 14 June 2023 was implicitly and explicitly related to this data leak to the detriment of the Army’s reputation. Even though the government led by Shahbaz Sharif initiated the NADRA Chairman appointment process on 6 July 2023, it made significant amendments to the appointment regulations through an Interior Ministry notification on 7 August 2023, just days before transferring power to the interim government of pro-Army Anwarul Haq Kakkar on 14 August 2023. These changes have been confirmed by Special Assistant on Information to PM on 31 August 2023, asserting these have “been taken in view of the country’s security situation.” This effectively allows the Army establishment to install its chosen individual, most likely a serving or retired General, to this position, thereby granting them direct control over Pakistan’s most sensitive statistical databases, including those related to the electoral process, and hence an extended arm to engineer the political affairs of the country.
Another important institution through which the Army maintains control and engineers the country’s polity is the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s highest anti-graft organisation. Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt currently heads the bureau since March 2023, and it is the partial investigations conducted by this military-controlled agency that has ensured the political class remains under check and at the disposal of its Machiavellian machinations to engineer Pakistan’s political affairs. Out of the eleven full-time chairmen of NAB since its establishment in 1999, seven have been former armed forces officers led by the Army. It has conducted investigations, legal proceedings, and imprisonment at different times for every prime minister since 2008, including Shahbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and former president Asif Ali Zardari, along with other prominent political figures. This reveals how the Army uses this institution to engineer the country’s political affairs by implicating political leadership, who are mostly likely acquitted by the civilian courts afterwards.
In the case of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), established in 1958 and Pakistan’s dedicated agency for space sciences development, the Pakistan army can be held directly responsible for its dismal affairs. A cursory look at the credentials of the people who have headed this agency over time shows a discernible decline in the qualification. The inaugural chairperson of this ambitious agency was Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate, Dr. Abdus Salam, who was eventually disowned because of his Ahmediya sectarian affiliation. Of the eleven individuals who have served chairpersons throughout the Commission’s existence, six have been from the armed forces (four from the Army and two from the Air Force). The Pakistani Army has effectively controlled Suparco since 2001, when Major General Raza Hussain took over during the military rule of General Parvez Musharaf. The agency is currently led by Major General Amer Nadeem, who assumed office in 2018. Suparco has failed to make any mark in its research domain and is yet to launch any satellite from the country, given its inability to build a single launch vehicle in Pakistan. Most of its limited payloads have been launched from China. Despite significant budgetary allocation, it appears the military has turned the agency into a money-milking venture, given its near-dismal output.
In another instance, take the case of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). The agency is responsible for managing Pakistan’s water and power resources and infrastructure. Established in 1958, WAPDA holds prominence because of being the “largest hydropower supplier, accounting for 21% of electricity generation and 92% of hydro-electricity generation” in Pakistan. However, it has struggled to maintain, refurbish and upgrade the country’s power infrastructure, mirroring the overall situation of Pakistan’s economic freefall. This has resulted in frequent power outages, signified by a countrywide blackout on 24 January 2023, when Pakistan went dark for nearly a day.
Nevertheless, throughout its history, WAPDA has been prominently led by the likes of Ghulam Ishaq Khan (who later became the President of Pakistan), Ghulam Faruque Khan (Governor of East Pakistan) and Aftab Ghulam Nabi Kazi (a federal government minister). However, authority has also fallen into the hands of the Pakistan Army over the years. Currently, it is headed by Lt Gen. (R) Sajjad Ghani, who has previously served as Vice Chief of General Staff at GHQ and Corps Commander in Karachi.
Taken together, this direct control of the state institutions accords the Pakistani Army’s overarching control of the state and Pakistani life. It calls into question the modus operandi of the Army establishment, as it positions itself as the sole dependable institution in the country and a moral compass for Pakistan’s future trajectory. It also underscores the division within Pakistan’s political leadership, historically allowing the military to play a driving role in the nation’s governance. All along, whereas the economic fortunes of the Army’s business empire have thrived as the only profitable enterprise in Pakistan, all the sectors of the national economy have endured hardships because of the diversion of funds, corruption and monumental mismanagement by the political cum military elite. It appears any participatory form of governance devoid of military interference is still light years away. Until then, unless Pakistanis rise against this force, they will have to endure the hardships of life while its resources get plundered by these army-led cronies to amass personal wealth at the cost of Pakistan and its people.
