Former prime minister and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto has taken note of the Human Rights Watch report and asked the regime to keep the armed forces out of politics. The New York-based human rights watchdog group in its recent report was critical of Islamabad's military regime, accusing it of having "acted with increasing impunity to enforce its writ over the state and to protect its grip of Pakistan's economic resources, especially land".
In a statement on Monday, the former prime minister said that reports of the military's encroachment on lands, jobs and economic resources of the country had reached a stage where it was bringing in scrutiny and criticism.
She said that patronage in the civil sector has ended and it is time for the armed forces to follow suit and prevent criticism.
She called for a review of policies, which enabled the armed forces to take over land, shrinking economic opportunities at the cost of the teeming millions of poverty stricken Pakistanis.
"Such policies have begun to attract the critical notice of concerned citizens and international bodies and tomorrow it could bring demoralisation which was not in the national interest."
The need for correcting negative perceptions about the military's growing expansion into land, businesses and jobs has never been as great as it is today, she said.
It may be recalled that parliamentary questions revealed that A-I category of military lands, which are given to the military for specific defence purposes, had been converted into golf courses, petrol pumps, housing schemes and commercial plazas against the rules on the subject.
The Auditor General of Pakistan has cited serious violations of rules in conversion of A-I military lands into golf courses and housing schemes.
The revenues derived from commercial activities such as from the Lahore Fortress Stadium are not being credited to the Central Consolidated Fund as required under the Constitution according to the auditor general's report.
One of the most brutal examples of land encroachment took place in Okara where tenants tilling the land for decades were being forcibly evicted. The encroachment on the rights of the Badin fishermen had also provoked large-scale protests. The recent allegations of rape against a female doctor in Balochistan had led to massive protest, kidnapping, blasts on gas installations and a limited military action.
Moreover, the parliament appeared helpless to take remedial action to protect public interest. For example, the Senate recently made recommendations about the military farmlands in Okara but within days, in an affront to the elected Parliament, yet another offensive was launched against the tenants.
The establishment of the Defence Housing Authorities in Lahore and Karachi as islands of opulence amongst a sea of poverty and misery by taking over the civilian housing society at throwaway prices had also led to an outcry threatening to adversely affect the standing of the armed forces.
It may be recalled that 870 acres of land was recently taken by military authorities in sector E-10 of Islamabad at a cheap rate of 200 rupees per square yard in addition to 1400 acres previously allocated for the construction of GHQ in the federal capital.
The market price of the land was over Rs 500 billion or half of national budget. With a GHQ already present in nearby Rawalpindi such enormous expenditure was crippling the economy and preventing investment. Moreover, an adjournment motion in the Parliament to discuss the issue was not allowed.