Research Proposal

Military in Pakistani Politics

Introduction

Two important features of Pakistani politics are democracy and military

rule. The Military is a formidable actor in Pakistani politics, capable of influencing

political change and direction of policy and event. The Military has so far maintained its

autonomous position as an institution, and acting arbitrarily, and sometimes at crossed-

purposes with the civilian government, in policy formulation in certain key areas like

nuclear, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and to greater extent in dealings with US. This

dominating position of military changes from issue to issue as well. Military put up itself

as alternate rulers to civilian rulers. Politics for military is a reserved area to be taken up

directly or indirectly when their interests demand to do so. Periods of 1958-1962. 1977-

1985 and 1999-2007 are periods of direct military rule whereas in the rest of years,

military has been having very central say in key areas of country’s policy and

administration. The period of 1988 to 1999 is an indirect case of it. So military

involvement in politics has now established a vicious circle.

Review of Literature

Military in Pakistan like elsewhere in world controls the instrument of violence. But a

case here is a little bit different. Pakistan is deficient in democratic culture: and State in

Pakistan in the words of Hamza Alavi, is “ over developed” that has not only hampered

the development of society or civil institutions to be strengthened but it has also not
encouraged researchers to investigate military and bureaucracy role extensively in any

given issue/area. But this pattern of behavior has been changed since the last decade of

20th century. Several books have given very detailed study of military and politics

encounter. Saeed Shafaqat’s book, “ Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan: From Zulfiqar

Ali Bhutto to Benazir Bhutto (1977)” , has mainly worked on the area of Zulfiqar Ali

Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto eras. But he has explained his main argument with the help of

theoretical framework i.e. ‘ military hegemonic political system’ and ‘dominant party

system’. Brigadier A.R. Siddique’s book, “ The Military In Pakistan: Image and Reality

(1996)”, is an attempt to present the “imagined” history of the army and the impact of

this perceived image on the reality of its establishment in the polity. Stephen P. Cohen’s

book , “ The Pakistan Army (19984)” , is a detailed work based on field work,

interviews with military officers, their perception about security environment and polity

affairs. Hassan Askari Rizvi have written two books: “ The Military and Politics in

Pakistan: 1947-1997 (2000)” and “ Military, State and Society in Pakistan (2003)”.The

former book has done a detailed discussion on military outlook, professional character,

and its role in Pakistani society and state. The latter book has analyzed the socio-

economic causes of society for military ascendancy, the military position in power

structure, its strategy of cultivating pattern-client relationship with civilians, its

withdrawal strategy from active politics. Hussain Haqqani’s book, “ Pakistan: Between

Mosque and Military (2005)”, written in the war on terror time , has examined the

connection of Islamist forces and military in Pakistan. It examines that how Islamists and

military have supported each other against democratic forces, and how Islamist forces

have carried forward state agenda inside as well outside of country. Ayesha Siddqua ‘s
book, “ Military Inc. Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy (2007)” , central argument is

that military business is predatory in nature and it reinforces authoritarianism and

feudalism in Pakistan. Shuja Nawaz’s book, “Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and

the Wars Within (2008)”, has largely dealt Pakistan’s army but its helpful to great extent

in this regard. Besides these books, scholars like Mohammad Waseem, Hamza

Alavi,Ilhan Niaz, Rasool Bakhsh Rais, Lawrece Ziring, and Ayesha Jalal have written on

this subject to a great extent.

Objective

Should Pakistan’s military intervention in politics be an alternate option to be

opted for?

Methodology

Qualitative Research method has been used to understand the issue at hand in

depth. Though research design is prescriptive primarily as it deals with the current status

of military liking to do politics either directly or indirectly, yet historical design has

partially used to trace the given issue roots since 1947.

Bibliography

1 Cohen, Stephen p., The Pakistan Army, Barkeley: University of Calfornia

Press,1984

2 Khan, Fazal Muqeem, The Story of the Pakistan Army, Karachi: Oxford

University Press, 1963

3 Nawaz, Shuja, Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within,

Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2008

4 Rizvi, Hassan Askari, The Military and Politics in Pakistan: 19947-1997, Lahore:

Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2000

5 Rizvi, Hassan Askari, Miltary, State and Society in Pakistan, Lahore: Sang-e-

Meel Publications, 2003

6 Shafqat, Saeed, Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan: From Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to

Benazir Bhutto,America: WestView Press, 1997

7 Siddiqi, A R (Retd), The Military in Pakistan: Image and Reality, Lahore:

Vanguard Book Pvt Ltd, 1996

8 Siddiqua, Ayesha, Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, London:

Pluto Press, 2007