The army in civvies
The GOLKAR concept of rule is not unique to Indonesia, it has been applied by the military in various regions of the world in different forms. During the nineteenth century the world belonged to the military-industrial complexes, Krupp was a household word in Europe. There was an enduring relationship between men in uniform and businessmen. It is only in the last 20th century when businessmen have started entering politics that the power nexus has changed character. Military dictators held sway in the first half of the twentieth century, civilization of the Army was used to perpetuate their own rule to keep key persons in the military hierarchy profitably engaged. Suharto perfected it to such finesse in Indonesia that today, having been “overthrown” he is still very much a power to contend with. President Habibie is a product of the military-industrial-business complex Suharto set up as a political party, GOLKAR. Habibie was his closest advisor and aide, a man he called his own son. Throughout the third world, military men have moved into key civilian positions during their service careers, many more do so after retirement. During the early 80s, the two parts of what was once one Pakistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, were ruled by benign dictators who moved men in uniform and out of uniform into government posts, government and semi-government corporations. WAPDA and Pakistan Steel Mills were significant examples of this in Pakistan, in Bangladesh a host of posts included even the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the Petroleum Corporation, the Export Processing Zone, etc. In Pakistan other than the military welfare organisations like Fauji Foundation, which has done very well, and the Army Welfare Trust, which has not done as well, a corporate creation was (and is) the National Logistics Cell (NLC), very much needed in the late 70s and early 80s when there was a virtual logjam at Karachi port and transportation of vital commodities upcountry had become a dire necessity. On the other hand, using the elite SSG as air guards on PIA on a permanent basis in the wake of the spate of early 80s air-jacking was a disaster of the greatest magnitude for the SSG itself as the men lost their special edge which made them different.
Whenever there is anything of vital importance to the existence of the country then a country has a right to use its Armed Forces under civilian authority. This is given in the Constitution. While the survey of “ghost schools” in the Punjab cannot be put in this category, one can condone their survey by Army teams as a necessity in the special circumstances of corruption in education. Similarly because military courts were necessary in Sindh to break the hold of terrorism gradually turning the Province into anarchy, it was a welcome initiative on the part of the government. Again because the power sector was in doldrums, the moving of a serving Lt Gen and as his deputy a serving Maj Gen is acceptable. With the experiment of Brig Khurshid Alam into KESC as Director Implementation at the instance of the then Minister Water and Power Raja Nadir Pervaiz showing signs of success, eight serving Brigadiers have now been posted to head the Area Electricity Boards. However, the news that 35,000 servicemen will be moved to WAPDA is a shock as it takes away badly needed jobs in the civilian sector without the incremental benefit that could have been possible through monitoring by small teams. There are rumours that military courts may be established to try cases of power theft, an endemic problem, in Pakistan. The rumour mills went overboard and stories started appearing in the national Press, thankfully denied by Brig Rashid Qureshi, Director ISPR himself that “there is no proposal to take over the Railways and JCOs are not being appointed to look after garbage cleaning in Lahore”, unquote.
Without trying to teach anyone the primary role of the Armed Forces and the necessity of keeping high standards of professionalism by concentrating on matters purely professional, it is time to talk about how uniformed personnel can be used to strengthen key sectors as and when required without damaging the fabric of their fighting efficiency. The first thing to remember is to depute professional soldiers for civilian jobs only when vitally necessary and that also for very short periods. Whatever the Army has done uptil now qualifies that touchstone, more than that would seriously affect their combat efficiency and one is confident that the COAS would never permit this. Moreover, the media would tend to severely disparage any adverse performance while ignoring the successes. During the 80s and even the 90s the performance of uniformed personnel in civilian jobs has been as good or as bad as the individual. Some people have made money their ancestors could not dream about but their descendants will enjoy. Let us put it bluntly, has the corruption in WAPDA, Pakistan Steel, PASSCO, National Fertiliser, etc lessened even though at times their heads have been uniformed or ex-uniformed men of integrity? Why does not the Army commission a blue-ribboned high-powered survey of the living conditions of ex-uniformed personnel? This is not to cast any aspersions on the vast majority of honourable people like former Chairman JCSC Gen Shariff who live in virtual austerity while a few of their colleagues (and their sons) wallow in unlimited wealth. Where did this money come from? Some of it can be traced back to Defence Purchases but most of it was accumulated during tenures occupying civilian jobs. Putting the Army in civvies in the 80s resulted in the high price of undercutting of professionalism and inculcating corruption. One must give credit to successive COAS since late Gen Ziaul Haq like Gens Aslam Beg, Asif Nawaz Janjua, Abdul Waheed and Jahangir Karamat who weaned the Army away from civilian clutches, in different styles and modes maybe but with the same aim, to make the Army professional as it used to be.
There is a vast bank of manpower that can be used by the Army. Instead of sending its serving uniformed personnel, it can put those going on retirement and some of those immediately retired persons back in uniform on contract into jobs that are of vital necessity, to name a few viz. (1) in the field of justice, as special magistrates with each Police Thanas or as special military courts to deal with excesses and corruption of law enforcement agencies (2) in the field of accountability as special investigation teams, taking the help of civilian specialists, to enquire about nepotism and corruption in different government departments, particularly the tax collection agencies like the CBR and its constituent courts (3) in the field of education by setting up schools and colleges and acting as administrators (4) in medicine as special field hospitals and acting as administrators of existing ones (5) in transportation by the checking of vehicles at nodal points throughout the country to ensure safety and reliability, to use them also as customs check posts to counter smuggling and in the collection of octroi (6) needless to say as engineers in road and bridge building, to oversee and monitor contractors in other fields, etc. While some posts require Cols, Brigs and Maj Gens, the most valuable commodity in the Army is the Major, a man found not suitable for any number of reasons for going on to the rank of Lt Cols. A vast number of Majors are usually available in any given year, mostly they are between 40-45 years of age, just right in experience and maturity to do jobs in which they do not replace civilians but complement them in many ways. Someone up there in the military hierarchy has to think this one through.
The corrupt have an enduring ambition other than making money for themselves, that is to corrupt others around them. That is the easiest way rulers have to retain power. One of the problems the COAS has to face is when to say “no” even in the face of temptation to intervene in areas vital to the country’s needs for purely national interests. In putting men out to civilian pasture, there is always a risk and there has to be a special unit to monitor that the men sent out do not disgrace the uniform and bring a bad name to the Army. At the same time when taking over institutions one by one there is always the ambition, why have civilian rule at all when all the work has to be done by the Army? The factors balanced on the fine edge of propriety are (1) the task of vital national importance and (2) what is the minimum time span for its completion? When answers to these questions are unambiguously clear, there will be no backlash to the Army in civvies.
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