waraich66
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Land allotments and the military
by Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi
[The author, Dr. Hasan Askari Rizvi, is a renowned political and
defence analyst. He holds PhD in International Relations and Political
Science from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He has taught at
Columbia University, New York, Heidelberg University, Germany, and the
University of the Punjab,Lahore]
Land allotments to military personnel are not viewed in Pakistani
society as an isolated development. These represent a broader
phenomenon of the military gradually overwhelming most sectors of
state and society
Some of Pakistan`s national dailies carried a news item on June
24 that the Punjab Board of Revenue informed the Lahore High Court
that 62 senior and 56 junior Army officers were allotted agricultural
lands in Cholistan and other district of the Punjab under various
schemes in 1981, 1982, 1994, 1999 and 2000. These allotments were made
under instructions of the Army headquarters and the details of these
allotments could be made public only by the Army headquarters.
The allotment of agricultural land to serving and retired military
personnel is an old and well established practice going back to the
period of British rule in India. No detailed data is available on such
allotments since the establishment of Pakistan because the military
authorities are not willing to release the names of the beneficiaries
of this policy and the civilian governments (when in power) do not
want to alienate the military by making detailed data available to
public. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Punjab Board of
Revenue did not provide the list of officers who were allotted
agricultural land in Cholistan and other districts of the Punjab in
the specified years.
However, limited data is released from time to time by the government,
mainly to answer questions in various assemblies. The available data
shows clearly that the military personnel (in many cases the
bureaucrats as well) were accommodated liberally whenever agricultural
land became available under various land development schemes. At
times, newspapers and weeklies have published unauthenticated list of
civil servants and military officers who were allotted agricultural
land in Sindh and the Punjab. Several political parties and citizens
groups have periodically taken exception to this policy but their
protests are not known to have produced any significant impact on the
land allotment policy for military personnel.
The British adopted the policy of granting agricultural land to
military personnel in the Punjab in order to encourage recruitment to
the Army. This helped to improve the socio-economic status of army
personnel in an agricultural society. Some influential people were
granted land for helping the British in army recruitment or for
pursuing Army-related assignments, i.e. ``ghori pal``
scheme.
The British could adopt this policy because large tracts of
agricultural land became available as they started building canals in
the Punjab from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The land
in these ``canal colonies`` was distributed mainly to build
support for the British government and for rewarding Army personnel
which encouraged army recruitment in the Punjab. A detailed study of
how the British used the land in the canal colonies in the Punjab for
popularising Army service can be found in Imran Ali`s book
``The Punjab Under Imperialism, 1885-1947`` (Princeton
University Press, 1988).
In the post-independence period, land in the Thal desert was assigned
to the military for settling ex-service personnel. Land was also
allotted to ex-service personnel in various schemes in different
barrage areas in Sindh and the Punjab. These barrages included Ghulam
Muhammad, Gudu and Taunsa. Local servicemen were given land in
Campbellpur, Jhelum, Kohat, Rawalpindi and Hazara districts which was
developed with the help of the Army. Agricultural land was allotted to
service personnel on the Pakistan-India border in the Punjab.
Initially, agricultural land was also granted with gallantry awards.
Later, cash rewards replaced land allocations. Some useful historical
data on the policy of land allotments to the military in the early
years of independence can be found in Major General (retd) Fazal
Muqeem`s book ``The Story of the Pakistan Army``
(Oxford University Press, 1963); for the later period see Hasan Askari
Rizvi`s book ``Military, State and Society in
Pakistan`` (St Martin`s Press, New York, 2000).
The practice of agricultural land grants continued on a limited scale
in the eighties and the nineties. The Punjab Provincial Assembly was
informed in January 1988 that the Punjab Government allotted about
450,000 acres of land to 5,538 military personnel during 1977-85. Land
was also allotted to military personnel, bureaucrats and influential
people in other provinces, especially in Sindh, but the government did
not release the data about these allotments.
The practice of granting plots of land to military personnel in
various housing schemes in cantonments and other urban centres is by
now well-established. Most service personnel can get more than one
residential or commercial plot in different housing schemes at a price
less than the market rate and then sell their extra plots, mostly to
civilians, at exorbitant market rates.
A reference may also be made to the ongoing controversy about the
Okara Military Farms. This farm involves about 20,156 acres of land
spread over 22 villages which is controlled and managed by the Army
under a renewable 20 year lease agreement with the Punjab Government
going back to 1912-13. The lease agreement allows the Army to acquire
its proprietary rights. This has not happened and the Army continues
with the lease arrangement. The dispute with the tenants of three or
four out of 22 villages started when the Army decided to change the
original arrangement for sharing the produce of this land.
The demand of the tenants for ownership of the land has no legal basis
because no Pakistani law permits the tenants to become owners of the
land by virtue of having been tenants over a long period of time. The
coercion used by state agencies against these tenants has provoked
some NGOs and human rights groups to take up the cause of the tenants.
Furthermore, civil society groups want to highlight the broader issue
of the military`s expanding role in all sectors of state and
society.
Land allotments to military personnel are not viewed in Pakistani
society as an isolated development. These represent a broader
phenomenon of the military gradually overwhelming most sectors of
state and society. The related developments that add to concern about
the nature and direction of the society include the induction of
military personnel into the top posts in the government and
semi-government institutions and organisations, and the fast expanding
commercial, business and industrial interests of the military being
pursued through four welfare foundation.
On top of all this is the military exercises power directly from time
to time, and, when it is not in power, its top brass use their pivotal
position to assert their role in the decision making process at the
highest level. Politicisation of the role of the military and its
penetration into most sectors of state and society is leading to
political controversies.
A person or an institution cannot engage in politics without being
questioned by competing political and societal interests. The military
may justify its position on land allotments, material rewards to its
personnel, its economic interests, and the control of the Okara farms
on purely legal grounds. However, it will continue to be questioned on
political grounds and with reference to the attempts of civil society
groups to protect the autonomy of civilian institutions and processes.
by Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi
[The author, Dr. Hasan Askari Rizvi, is a renowned political and
defence analyst. He holds PhD in International Relations and Political
Science from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He has taught at
Columbia University, New York, Heidelberg University, Germany, and the
University of the Punjab,Lahore]
Land allotments to military personnel are not viewed in Pakistani
society as an isolated development. These represent a broader
phenomenon of the military gradually overwhelming most sectors of
state and society
Some of Pakistan`s national dailies carried a news item on June
24 that the Punjab Board of Revenue informed the Lahore High Court
that 62 senior and 56 junior Army officers were allotted agricultural
lands in Cholistan and other district of the Punjab under various
schemes in 1981, 1982, 1994, 1999 and 2000. These allotments were made
under instructions of the Army headquarters and the details of these
allotments could be made public only by the Army headquarters.
The allotment of agricultural land to serving and retired military
personnel is an old and well established practice going back to the
period of British rule in India. No detailed data is available on such
allotments since the establishment of Pakistan because the military
authorities are not willing to release the names of the beneficiaries
of this policy and the civilian governments (when in power) do not
want to alienate the military by making detailed data available to
public. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Punjab Board of
Revenue did not provide the list of officers who were allotted
agricultural land in Cholistan and other districts of the Punjab in
the specified years.
However, limited data is released from time to time by the government,
mainly to answer questions in various assemblies. The available data
shows clearly that the military personnel (in many cases the
bureaucrats as well) were accommodated liberally whenever agricultural
land became available under various land development schemes. At
times, newspapers and weeklies have published unauthenticated list of
civil servants and military officers who were allotted agricultural
land in Sindh and the Punjab. Several political parties and citizens
groups have periodically taken exception to this policy but their
protests are not known to have produced any significant impact on the
land allotment policy for military personnel.
The British adopted the policy of granting agricultural land to
military personnel in the Punjab in order to encourage recruitment to
the Army. This helped to improve the socio-economic status of army
personnel in an agricultural society. Some influential people were
granted land for helping the British in army recruitment or for
pursuing Army-related assignments, i.e. ``ghori pal``
scheme.
The British could adopt this policy because large tracts of
agricultural land became available as they started building canals in
the Punjab from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The land
in these ``canal colonies`` was distributed mainly to build
support for the British government and for rewarding Army personnel
which encouraged army recruitment in the Punjab. A detailed study of
how the British used the land in the canal colonies in the Punjab for
popularising Army service can be found in Imran Ali`s book
``The Punjab Under Imperialism, 1885-1947`` (Princeton
University Press, 1988).
In the post-independence period, land in the Thal desert was assigned
to the military for settling ex-service personnel. Land was also
allotted to ex-service personnel in various schemes in different
barrage areas in Sindh and the Punjab. These barrages included Ghulam
Muhammad, Gudu and Taunsa. Local servicemen were given land in
Campbellpur, Jhelum, Kohat, Rawalpindi and Hazara districts which was
developed with the help of the Army. Agricultural land was allotted to
service personnel on the Pakistan-India border in the Punjab.
Initially, agricultural land was also granted with gallantry awards.
Later, cash rewards replaced land allocations. Some useful historical
data on the policy of land allotments to the military in the early
years of independence can be found in Major General (retd) Fazal
Muqeem`s book ``The Story of the Pakistan Army``
(Oxford University Press, 1963); for the later period see Hasan Askari
Rizvi`s book ``Military, State and Society in
Pakistan`` (St Martin`s Press, New York, 2000).
The practice of agricultural land grants continued on a limited scale
in the eighties and the nineties. The Punjab Provincial Assembly was
informed in January 1988 that the Punjab Government allotted about
450,000 acres of land to 5,538 military personnel during 1977-85. Land
was also allotted to military personnel, bureaucrats and influential
people in other provinces, especially in Sindh, but the government did
not release the data about these allotments.
The practice of granting plots of land to military personnel in
various housing schemes in cantonments and other urban centres is by
now well-established. Most service personnel can get more than one
residential or commercial plot in different housing schemes at a price
less than the market rate and then sell their extra plots, mostly to
civilians, at exorbitant market rates.
A reference may also be made to the ongoing controversy about the
Okara Military Farms. This farm involves about 20,156 acres of land
spread over 22 villages which is controlled and managed by the Army
under a renewable 20 year lease agreement with the Punjab Government
going back to 1912-13. The lease agreement allows the Army to acquire
its proprietary rights. This has not happened and the Army continues
with the lease arrangement. The dispute with the tenants of three or
four out of 22 villages started when the Army decided to change the
original arrangement for sharing the produce of this land.
The demand of the tenants for ownership of the land has no legal basis
because no Pakistani law permits the tenants to become owners of the
land by virtue of having been tenants over a long period of time. The
coercion used by state agencies against these tenants has provoked
some NGOs and human rights groups to take up the cause of the tenants.
Furthermore, civil society groups want to highlight the broader issue
of the military`s expanding role in all sectors of state and
society.
Land allotments to military personnel are not viewed in Pakistani
society as an isolated development. These represent a broader
phenomenon of the military gradually overwhelming most sectors of
state and society. The related developments that add to concern about
the nature and direction of the society include the induction of
military personnel into the top posts in the government and
semi-government institutions and organisations, and the fast expanding
commercial, business and industrial interests of the military being
pursued through four welfare foundation.
On top of all this is the military exercises power directly from time
to time, and, when it is not in power, its top brass use their pivotal
position to assert their role in the decision making process at the
highest level. Politicisation of the role of the military and its
penetration into most sectors of state and society is leading to
political controversies.
A person or an institution cannot engage in politics without being
questioned by competing political and societal interests. The military
may justify its position on land allotments, material rewards to its
personnel, its economic interests, and the control of the Okara farms
on purely legal grounds. However, it will continue to be questioned on
political grounds and with reference to the attempts of civil society
groups to protect the autonomy of civilian institutions and processes.
