The Military and Denied Development in the Pakistani Punjab

An Eroding Social Consensus

By (author) Shahrukh Rafi Khan, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar With Sohaib Bodla

Publication date:

01 November 2014

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

229x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781783082896

This book focuses on the retrogressive agrarian interventions by the Pakistani military in rural Punjab and explores the social resentment and resistance it triggered, potentially undermining the consensus on a security state in Pakistan. Set against the overbearing and socially unjust role of the military in Pakistan’s economy, this book documents a breakdown in the accepted function of the military beyond its constitutionally mandated role of defence. Accompanying earlier work on military involvement in industry, commerce, finance and real estate, the authors’ research contributes to a wider understanding of military intervention, revealing its hand in various sectors of the economy and, consequently, its gains in power and economic autonomy.

Preface; 1. The Military and Economic Development; 2. Punjab’s State–Society Consensus on the Military’s Dominance and Economic Role; 3. Research Design, Method, Institutional Issues and Scope of the Military’s Land Acquisitions; 4. The Military’s Agrarian Land Acquisitions: High Handedness and Social Resentment; 5. From Social Resentment to Social Resistance; 6. Bahria Town: A Military-Related Real Estate Venture; 7. The Military as Landlord in the Pakistani Punjab: Case Study of the Okara Farms; 8. Guardians No More? The Breakdown of the Consensus; Glossary; Index

“This is a pioneering study of the military’s appropriation of land to enrich retired servicemen and, more importantly, strengthen its economic domination as a corporate entity.” —Tariq Rehman, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore