Pakistan Army transformed intervention into infrastructure, acting as unelected custodian: Report

Islamabad, July 3 (IANS) Pakistan Army is not content with acting as the unelected custodian of the state, being the largest industrial conglomerate in the country with billions of dollars in turnover, a report said.

With its network and commercial interests spread across almost every sector of the country’s economy, “the Pakistani Army does not simply manage military affairs. It does not merely influence foreign policy. It is not even content with acting as the unelected custodian of the state,” said a report from Stinger Asia.

“At the centre of this empire stands the Fauji Foundation, founded in 1954 by General Ayub Khan and Defence Secretary Major General Iskandar Mirza, and still presented abroad with the touching innocence of a welfare organisation for veterans and military families. In theory, it is charity. In practice, it is Military Inc,” the report noted.

According to the report, Fauji Foundation and its associated networks produce steel, energy, fertilisers, cement, furniture, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, food, cereals and processed meat. Owns clinics, hospitals, schools and universities. It operates in oil, gas and wind power. It also holds a major share of national urea output.

“Through Askari Bank, among the country’s major financial institutions, it sits inside the bloodstream of the economy. It is connected to construction, insurance, power, mining, food supply, finance and infrastructure. There is no clean separation between barracks and balance sheets, between national security and private profit, between retirement benefits and corporate capture,” the report highlighted.

Showing the perfect symbols of capitalism, Pakistan’s military often acquired state land or got it allocated on favourable terms, which later turned into gated luxury and was sold at extraordinary margins.

“Islamabad and Karachi are textbook examples of this transformation: public geography converted into elite real estate, with the military acting not as defender of the nation but as developer of the nation’s most profitable enclaves. The result is a country in which soldiers retire not only with medals, but with plots, boards, consultancies and diplomatic appointments,” the report said.

The military has also entered into corporate farming with the Special Investment Facilitation Council, a hybrid civil-military body designed to sell “efficiency”.

“A military-controlled company has reportedly obtained long leases over vast tracts of so-called barren state land for corporate agriculture. Tens of thousands of acres have already come under military-linked management in Punjab, Sindh and other provinces under the Green Pakistan Initiative. The language is development. The substance is enclosure,” the report on Stringer Asia said.

In December, a letter of Intent was signed by the Fauji Foundation with Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for cooperation in blockchain, cryptocurrency, digital payments and Web3.

“The military already owns banks, foundations, land, food chains, housing schemes and industrial groups. It controls contracts, logistics, access, security clearances and regulatory comfort. Crypto is simply the next terrain. If money is moving into blockchain, the Army wants a node. If payments are crossing borders, the Army wants visibility. If digital finance can become geopolitical leverage, the Army wants custody. It is not enough to guard the state. The Army must also monetise its future,” the report noted.

–IANS

ksk/khz