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Army's BusinessMilitary Inc: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy by Ayesha SiddiqaReview by: Asad SayeedEconomic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 41 (Oct. 13 - 19, 2007), pp. 4112-4114Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40276542 .

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ReviewsArmy'susinessMilitaryne: InsidePakistan'sMilitary conomybyAyes aSiddiqa;Oxford niversityress,Pakistan,007;ppxii + 292,19.99.Asad Sayeed

bookunder eview s the mostpopularook n he nglishanguageto havebeenpublishednPakistan. c-cordingo he ublishersOxford niver-sity ress, akistan thebookhas soldmorehan ,000opiesn hehree onthssince itspublication. nd thiscomesagainsthe ackdropfhigh rama t heend fMay n slamabad hen hebooklaunch rganisedythepublishersascircumventedythegovernment.llpublicpaceswhereheaunchould avebeenheld nthecitywere oldbythemilitaryovernmentot o l ow heaunch.Eventuallyheaunch asheldn he fficeof a non-governmentalrganisationoajam-packedudiencendwas covered nthe rontages fmainstreamewspapersthe ext orning.f oursehe overnmentoverreacted.f he ook ad een eleasedeven year go,Pakistan'sstablishment- read he rmy would erhapsot e-acted o strongly.ithhe rmy n thereceivingnd f ll hatswrongn akistan,this s he easonf iscontentnPakistan.The aunch fMilitarynecould ot avebeen imedetter.That akistan's ilitaryashad signi-ficantnfluencen he ountry'sconomicresourcess common nowledge.ow-ever, his nformations camouflagedthroughata ecrecynd ack f ccount-abilityf hemilitarystablishmento heparliament.ilitaryne ays ut n onsi-derable etail hehistory,haracteristicsand ize of his stablishment.hile heinformationsnotne nwhichconomistscandopreciseata nalysis,tprovidesuseful all arko ssess he xtentnd hegrowth f "MILBUS" (acronym or

militaryusiness sedbythe uthor)nPakistan.There are threemain elements fMILBUS nPakistan.he irsts he oun-dationsperatedy llthree ranchesfthe rmed orces,e,the rmy,henavyand theairforce. f course hearmydominatesn his rea lso.These ounda-tions perate verythingrom irlinesofertilisernd ement anufacturingirmsto bakeries,anks ndprivateecuritycompaniesnthe erviceectors.nfact,two army ubsidiaries theNationalLogistics ell (NLC) and the FrontierWorksOrganisationFWO) - have avirtual onopolyver he oad ransportand onstructionndustry,espectively.The riginsf hese oundationsobackto he ritisheriod,hen fterhe ffortsof he ritishndianrmy,welfareundwas created s a share fthePost-warServicesReconstructionund hatwasbequeathedo thePakistanrmy, hichprovidedhe eedfunds or he stablish-ment f he aujiFoundation.herest fthefoundationsere stablisheduringsubsequentartialaws n he 970s nd1980s.The uestionftenaisedsthatf heseactivitiesrewelfareriented,hats theproblem?fterll these oundationsunhealth nd ducationacilitiesor etiredmilitaryamilies,part rom rovidingemploymento numberf etiredrmedforces ersonnel. ccordingo Siddiqa,the roblem ith hiswelfaremodel sthreefold:ne, hemajor eneficiariesfthese oundationsrenot he oldiers,utthe fficerlass. econd,n poor ountrywhere here s virtuallyo significantsystemfwelfareor undredsfmillionsofpoor akistanis,ilitaryelfares "the

envy fmost ivilians".hird, iddiqadevotes large art f theninthhapterdemonstratinghe nefficientse of re-sources mployedythese oundationsthroughalanceheetnalysis.Militaryne providesmple videncethathe oundationsurviven overnmentsubsidies.gain,hissrumouredut asnever efore ocumentedith vidence.

One mportanteasonited ornefficiencyis hat hese oundationsremannedt hepinnacleymilitaryersonnel,otherv-ing nd etired.tgoeswithoutayinghatthosewhohave pent lifetimeealingwith rmour,rtilleryr ignals illnotbeadeptn he oughnd umblefman-aging inances,rganisingroductionnd-dealingwith civilian"abourmarkets.The tructuralncongruityf hese oun-dations wherehemperatives tokeepthe eversfpowern he ands f etiredmilitaryersonnelis far emovedromtherequirementsfa modernorporatesectoroperating n an increasinglyglobalised orld.WhiteElephants

The economicmplicationsfthis n-efficiencyre ignificant.lthoughilledas privatefoundations",hese ntitiesbehave xactlyikepublic ectorwhiteelephants.peratingith "soft udgetconstraint"laKornai,heirnefficienciesarenot ubjectomarketisciplinestheyarecontinuouslyailed utbypublic e-sources.bviouslyith o ncentiveobeefficient,heyquanderesources,ventu-ally aid or y he ax ayer.nterestinglywhereheres a consensusnPakistannreducingherole f thepublic ectornmanufacturingnd ervices,ecausef he"fuzzy"tatus f thefoundationss notreally ublic ectorntities,heres ittledebate nd/orriticismhat ashithertotakenlace n he esourceapturey hesefoundations.nd hisswherehe ub ies.The constituencyfthemilitarys thecorporateector nd t s theywho rebeing nderminedyMILBUS.Siddiqa oes otdequatelyrappleiththevexed uestionf thebonhomiee-tween he orporatesndMILBUS,whenit s clear hat he atterncroachesn heterritoryf he ormer.he tateshat hePakistanilite whichnher ormulationincludeshe orporateector s wellasfeudalsnd oliticiansare boundntopredatoryartnership"p23).Tosay hatelitesre inkedhroughcommonnterestof accumulationnd appropriationsmerelydescriptionf llcapitalisttatesand ocieties.ntra-eliteelationsespe-ciallyn his asewhere ILBUS rowds

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out he rivateectorremainsn mpor-tant esearchuestionobeexplored.The cquisitionf griculturalnd rbanland y he rmed orcess more isible.Defenceocietiesave ver ime ecomethe oshestesidentialocalitiesn akistan'surbanandscape.hebook nformss ofthemannernwhichrbanand s cquiredat ubsidisedates,eveloped ith ublicresourcesnd hen old o officersf hearmedorcest ubsidisedates.he fficersin urnanbecomenstant illionairesysellinghese lots f and tmarketatestohaplessivilians. ilitaryne lso on-firmshe asualbservationhathisrocesshas ncreasedt freneticaceduringheMusharrafegime.Siddiqa lsoprovidesseful etail nthe llocationf griculturaland omilitarypersonnelnPakistan.etween965 nd2003,1,90,000cres f griculturalandwasgivenomilitaryfficers.ot nlystheand iveno hemn ubsidisedatesbut iddiqalso howshat or igh ank-ing fficers,ultivations also subsidisedby he rmedorces!f ne akes he oysinkhakis a groupntohemselves,hentheyurnut obe biggestfeudals"nPakistan. o wonder,part rom yubKhan,none f the ubsequentictatorshaveever alkedbout andreformsnPakistan.nd his s inspite fthefactthatmilitaryovernmentsave een t heforefrontfcritiquinghe feudals" scentralo hemessynd sham"emocracythat hey verthrowithmonotonousregularity.

The developmentnddominancefMILBUSinSiddiqa's rameworkspri-marilyecausef he oliticalowerhatPakistan's ilitarycquiredarlyn fterPartition.rom heren,Siddiqa howsthathe elationshipasbeen ialecticnthesensethat hemilitary's oliticalpower as ledto accumulationfeco-nomicesources-twohaptersemonstratean interestingorrelationetween hemiitaryspoliticalowernd tsncreasingeconomic rowess and thisresourcecapturen urnompelshemilitaryokeepits oliticalnfluencentact.Excessively Structuralist?

Siddiqa xplainshe riginalin f hemilitary'snfluencenPakistan'soliticsby invokinghe"overdeveloped"tateformulationf HamzaAlavi.Alavi'sargumentbout he verdevelopedtatewas rguablyn differentontext.twas

essentiallyo explain heoverarchingdominancef the statevis--vis ivilsocietyn post-colonialettingndwasapplicableo all of the rstwhileritishIndia. he ssue fmilitaryominancesnot pplicableo ndia the argestntityofBritishndia- nd oes operhapsndifferentormor angladesh.t snot nlythat he non-electedrms f thestatedominatehe tatetructuren akistanutthattsmilitaryrm as ver imecquiredavirtualonopolyverhetaten akistan.Theoverdevelopedtate hesis oes notper eexplainhis henomenon.f iddiqahadworked ith yesha alaFsrgumentabout n nstitutionalmbalancet he imeofPartitionnd akistan'sro-US ostur-ingn he oldwar arlyn, hismportantexplanationould ave eenmore obust.Siddiqa ppearso err n he irectionfbeing excessively tructuralistn heranalysisn this dmittedlycademic utneverthelessmportantssue.

The therreawhereheheoreticalartof he ook anbe contesteds when heauthoronceptualisesILBUS in termsofdifferentypologiesf civil-militaryrelations.he mportantointhatiddiqamakess thatmilitariesnjoy privilegedpositionis--vis esourcellocationsnvaryingegreesn most ountries.ow-ever,he ypologyoesnot eem articu-larly sefulnexplaining ajor praeto-rian" tates uch s Turkey,hina ndIndonesia.n he aseofPakistant east,it is clear hathistoricalnd structuralreasonshatxplainhemilitary'somina-tion s well s its ocation ithinhe ol-ityremuch ifferentromayChinandTurkey. oth he Turkishnd Chinesearmiesre iberationrmiesnd husnjoyafar reateregitimacyhanheirakistanicounterpart,hichn urnsthe emnantof heBritishndianrmy. oreover,helegitimacyf he akistanrmysfurthercompromiseds it s not ven nationalarmy,rawingoughlywo-thirdsf tspersonnelromhe unjabo he xclusionofotherederatingnitsn Pakistan. ssuch, he ocationf hePakistanirmy,viz, he argerivil ocietysstructurallydifferentnd erhapsniqueomparedothese therntities.Sogivenhis verwhelmingominanceof hemilitary,s herenywayhatakistancanmove owardsecoming"normal"democratichirdorldountryAccordingtoSiddiqa,he outeo ustainableemo-cracynPakistans"maybe strongo-mesticmovementackedby external

MANOHARCHINA-PAKISTANTRATEGICCOOPERATIONIndianPerspectivesSwaranSingh ed)81-7304-761-8, 007,405p.Rs. 895NEPALISINSIDEANDOUTSIDENEPALSocial Dynamics n NorthernouthAsia Vol.HiroshishJi,avidN.GellnerndKatsuo Nawa ed)81-7304-699-9, 007, 543p.Rs. 1095

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CRISIS OF STATEAND NATIONSouth Asian States BetweenNation-Buildingnd FragmentationJohn . Neelsen andDipakMaliked)81-7304-731-6, 007,432p.Rs. 995LIVINGWITHSECULARISMThe Destinyof ndia's MuslimsMushirul asan (ed)81-7304-706-5, 007,306p.Rs. 750THE IMPACTOF ARMEDCONFLICTS ONWOMAN N SOUTHASIAAva DarshanShresthaandRitaThapa (eds)81-7304-724-3, 007,228p.Rs. 575

SITUATING NVIRONMENTALHISTORYRanjanChakrabartied)81-7304-683-2, 007,395p.Rs. 995INDIANJUDICIARYAND POLITICSThe ChangingLandscapeB.D. Dua, M.P.Singh

andRekha axena ed)81-7304-723-5,007, 89p.Rs.1195forurompleteataloguelease riteo s t:

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pressure"p 24).Thenotion f externalhelp" s notviewed avourablyythedemocraticmovementn Pakistan.Regarlessf opulistentiment,owever,this s an importantropositionarticu-larlyn he resentontext here xternalelementsprimarilyheUS) areinstru-mentalnkeepinghemilitaryictatorshipin thesaddle.Althoughiddiqagivesexamples f LatinAmerican ountrieswhere heUS has facilitatedemocracy,one wishesthat hisproposition adbeen xploredurtherarticularlynthecontextf akistan'seopoliticalituationpost /11.

Theseminoruibbles otwithstanding,thiss must ead ook orllwho re nter-estedn nderstandingakistan'snderlyingsocio-politicalnd conomicffliction.tmay ot rovide anynswersutt s avaliantttempttoutlininghe ominanceof hemilitaryeyond hat scommonlyunderstood.yeshaiddiqa asbecomenacademicelebrityf ortsince he ub-licationf his ook. nd his xaltedtatusis horoughlyarnedivenheourage ithwhichhe as aced vertnd overtarass-ment romhemightf he tate.WEmail: sadsayeed@gmail.comTo Be AFeminist

Feminisms Experience,ThoughtsndNarrativesbyNeeraDesai;Sparrow, umbai,006;pp 456,contributionriceRs250,hardbound.VasudhaJoshi

is feministonsciousnesson-structed? hatmakeswomen ar-ticipatena feministovement?ow stheorynwomen's tudies inkedwithpraxis?hesere omemportantuestionswhichave romptedhe rojectnwhichthis ook sbased.WomenctivistsromGujarat ndMaharashtraresentheiranswerso heseuestionsn he asis ftheirwn ife ndwork. he ditorialn-troductionnd oncludingemarksy heauthorerveocontextualisehe ersonalnarratives.heresults an mportant,n-terestinglbeitong-windedookwhichwas20yearsn hemaking.ItbeganwithUniversityrantsom-missionUGC) esearchrojectndertakenin 1986.Thoughheproject eport assubmittedn1994, he uthorarriedutadditionalesearchoput he resentol-ume together. ore thana hundredwomen ereontactedorheirarratives;the toriesf90werewrittenfternter-viewinghemndthenheywerepareddowno he 4presentedere. ven hentheyunntomorehan 00pages.The arratorsrewomenctivistsmanydonot ccept he abel feminist")rom

differentieldsf cademicsnd esearch,creative riting,rofessionsf awandjournalism,utonomousroupsnd eftpoliticalarties.he oldestmonghemis HansaMehtabornn 1897)andtheyoungests 36 years ld. Mostofthemarefairly ellknownndthe uthorspersonallycquainted ith hem. hereareno rural r dalitwomen ere or rethereny epresentativesf on-leftarties.Of ourse,he ook oesnot laimorep-resentllshades fopinionnd ctivisminthewomen'smovement.tstarts ithfourntroductoryhaptersealingwithdifferentefinitionsndmeanings ffeminism,hedea ffeministonscious-ness, briefeviewf hewomen's ove-mentn he ountry.otes nd eferencesand list f ll90 ntervieweesith heirbirthates,lacend rea fworkre ivenat he nd.Thewomen'smovementn he ountrygoesback o he 930swhile he eministmovements onlythree ecadesold.Feminism aintainshat he causes ofwomen'sppressionn ocietyremanybut he asic ause sonly ne, iz,patri-archy.his s unacceptableo theolderactivists ndmany enior esearchers.Indian omen's ovementas eenpartof argertrugglesndwomen ctivistswant osubsumeheirtrugglensomegrand esign uch as socialism, lassstruggle, cological sustenance. hewomen'smovementasgrown hroughstagesofparticipationn thefreedommovement,tudents'gitationsnGujaratand ihar,nti-priceisegitationnMaha-rashtranthe1970s.However,careful

delineationf ersonalnd ublicomainshas been acitly ade n themovement.The eministovement,n hetherand,has stressedhe nterconnectionetweenthe wo ndhasraisedssues frape, o-mesticiolence,ati, idowsnd esertedwomen,nformalorkfwomenncludingthat f exworkersndbar ancers.u-tonomousroups,omen'studiesentresandparallelmedia nits ave eennstru-mentaln aisingtheseoncerns.he trainbetween hewomen'smovementndfeminismas lways een resent.Thefeminist ovementn he ountryhasbeen ttackednall sides. herightfearshat twould estabiliseamilyndsocialife hileheeftearshathework-ing lass nd ts oliticalartiesould edestabilised.entristartiesave ollowedthemovementy o-optingts rogrammesand slogans ndsubvertinghem. hemovementas not uite ecoveredromthe ombshellf eservationor omennpanchayatiaj nstitutions.ominancefnon-governmentalrganisationsNGOs)or "NGOisation",ommunalacklash,celebrationf femininettributesndsexuality,he areerismfyouth,rosionof hewelfaretatethese re therttackswhich ave caused evere etbacksndsplinteringf hemovementhile ts e-ginningasmarkedy lot f nthusiasmand ctivity.hereforeostf he arratorslook ack n he astwith ondnessut redisillusionedith he resentndhesitantandwearyf he uture.till,ll re ertainthat hemovement,oweverragilendfragmented,s importantndhasgivenmeaningo heirives.First and dversexperiencefpatri-archynd xposureowidermovements,particularlyhe internationaleministmovementurnut obe hemajoractorsleadingofeministonsciousnessn hesenarratives.hen ome ducationnd am-ily ackground.y ndarge,amiliesavebeenupportivef hese rave omen hohave hartedheir wn aths. nly fewhavehad ostage struggleith n thefamily.he importancefexposureowesterneministdeassgoingo trength-en theoft-repeatedbut nsignificant)chargef hemovement'setractorshatthe oots ndconcernsfthemovementarewestern,otndigenous.Personal vs PoliticalWeneed o sk t hisuncture:sthereanythingt l kewomens onsciousness?

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