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Pakistan: The army as the state
Pakistans economy and institutions are deeply penetrated by the countrys army, a new book and documentary film reveal.By Ehsan Masood There are several scenes from Ziauddin Sardar's forthcoming film in the Dispatches series on Channel 4 television that I won't forget in a hurry. In one, Sardar has the pleasure of accompanying the Karachi police on a night-time anti-terror raid and is later brought face-to-face with a would-be suicide-terrorist. In another, he walks out of a supermarket and proceeds to empty his shopping bag: out pops a box of cornflakes, followed by some washing powder, and more. Each item, he tells the camera, has been manufactured by a military-run conglomerate. As he leaves, the camera focuses on the building next to where he is standing: It is a branch of the Askari bank, a nationwide network owned by the Army Welfare Trust. The trust is the second-largest private conglomerate in Pakistan. The largest is the Fauji Foundation (fauji means "soldier"). But the word "private" is something of a misnomer here as both these (and other conglomerates linked to the navy and air force) are run by serving army officers, and some were set up with public funds. Today, their combined assets could be as high as US$20 billion. Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-18 |
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