''Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy'' () is a book about the Pakistan military's economic activities and its consequences, written by

Ayesha Siddiqa Ayesha Siddiqa (; born 7 April 1966) is a Pakistani political scientist, and an author who serves as a research associate at the SOAS South Asia Institute. She previously served as the inaugural Pakistan Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center ...

Content

The book, divided into ten chapters, discusses the Pakistan military's economic empire and its political, economic, and social effect on the country. The author uses the term “Milbus” to refer to “''military capital that is used for the personal benefit of the military fraternity, especially the officer cadre, but is neither recorded nor part of the defense budget''.” She puts the cost of this Milbus to at least $20 billion. The following is a brief description of the content chapter wise: *''Chapter 1:'' Defines six distinct categories of military-civilian relationship in the world and explaining each with a brief case study of different countries. *''Chapter 2:'' Explains the political growth of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. its mandate, organizational structure and ethnic composition. *''Chapter 3:'' Highlights the growth of financial interests of the officer cadre of the army. *''Chapter 4:'' Outlines the command and control structure of the economic empire, and various methods used to exploit economic resources. *''Chapter 5:'' Discusses the growth of military business activities during the period 1954–1977, when it expanded its stake in agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries. *''Chapter 6:'' Expansion of military business during the period 1977–2005, setting up of institutions like Bahria Foundation and Shaheen Foundation, entry in finance and banking sector. *''Chapter 7:'' Discusses urban and rural land acquisition of armed forces. *''Chapter 8:'' Discusses the

welfare program Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance pr ...

for serving and retired Military personnel, inequitable distribution of resources that shows bias towards smaller provinces and ethnic minorities. *''Chapter 9:'' Analyzes the financial cost of the military economy. *''Chapter 10:'' Looks at the effects of military's economy on its professionalism, and the politics of the state and the conclusion.

Reception

The book caused a stir as it discussed a subject considered

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

in a country ruled for half of its time since

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, by the military. The author on the launch of the book said, "Over the past three years a lot of my friends have advised me not to publish this book. They think I have suicidal tendencies." Talat Hussain, a political analyst, said "Ms Siddiqa is a courageous researcher. This area has always been considered a sacred cow in our society." Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a booklet titled ‘Information Brief’, countering the figures and facts presented by the author in her book.

References

External links

Military Inc. at Google Books
{{Pakistan Army template Pakistani books Military economics Works about the military–industrial complex Military terminology of Pakistan

Content

Reception

See also

References

External links