Army Landlords?

Columnist Riaz Jafri makes a spirited defence in the face of a malicious campaign against the Army.

Internet edition of South Asia Tribune dated 19 August 2002 has published in bold a headline "A First Hand List of Army Landlords", and goes on to give the names of 62 Generals, Admirals, Air Marshal, Brigadiers, Colonels and Lt Cols (including General Musharraf) in addition to the mention of 50 JCOs, NCOs and other ranks who have grabbed 400 acres of the land in Bahawalpur area. I am not very certain about the veracity of the news but the credentials of Mr. Shaheen Sehbai, Editor South Asia Tribune, are known to be not above the board. This piece of information assumes further significance when one sees Benazir Bhutto capitalising on it while berating General Musharraf on ARY TV a few days back. 400 acres when distributed over at least 112 persons comes to less than 4 acres each, which hardly justifies the title of "Landlords" for them which Mr. Sehbai has bestowed upon them. His animosity towards the army and particularly the present military regime is an open secret for all to see.
The report on "Army Landlords" is mischievous, slanderous and a part of disinformation against the army. It is an effort to present an honest, legitimate and a useful practice as corrupt and disgraceful act on the part of the military and make the innocent (allow me to say, ignorant of the facts) readers believe it too. Facts are that such distribution of the waste crown lands at/near the borders to the defence personnel is an age old practice. In addition to the lands on the borders some other wastelands in the interior and hinterland are also allotted/leased out to defence personnel willing to develop them. In the British days gone by and even today waste crown lands were and are given on lease in the form of 'Ghori Paal Murrabas, Bhed Paal Murrabas and Stud Farms for the breeding of the horses, mules sheep and milk cattle etc. to meet the defence in particular and domestic needs in general. Most of Maghiana-Jhang, Faisalabad, Shorekot etc. - then inhabited by the 'Janglis' as they were called in those days, was allotted to many including Colonel Abid Hussain (father of Abida Hussain) of famous Shah Jiwana Farms in district Jhang.
Such wasteland is controlled by the Pak Government, Ministry of Defence, and allotted to the three services - army, airforce and navy - proportionately according to their manpower strength. Then, the respective services' Directorates of Welfare allot/distribute these lands to their respective officers, JCOs/Warrant Officers/Petty Officers, NCOs (Non- Commissioned Officers) and other ranks strictly on the basis of merit. Merit is determined by a 'Point System' and Points are allotted for the Number of Years of Service, Military or Civil Decorations/Awards, Shaheeds, Disabled/Invalid, Domicile (a soldier from Sialkot area gets preference over a soldier from, say, Sukkur area for the land on Sialkot borders) etc. Again the available land is distributed proportionately among various ranks, for example; say, 5 percent for the officers, 20 percent for the JCOs, and 75 percent for the NCOs and other ranks (exact ratios can be obtained from the GHQ). Lands are also allotted to the Regimental Centres for collective farming under the Regimental Centres. Such as: Punjab Regimental Centre, presently located at Mardan NWFP, Frontier Force Regimental Centre at Abbottabad and Baluch Regimental Centre also at Abbottabad were allotted lands in Sindh where they are being run as Collective Farms by the retired personnel of these Regiments very successfully.
Allotment of such wastelands to the defence personnel serves two essential purposes. One, the wasteland is brought under cultivation and made productive by the defence personnel where no civilians like to reside, and add to the national economy and agricultural produce. One has to see to believe the amount of hard labour, effort and money put in by these hardy defence personnel and their families, toiling for years on end in a mercilessly hostile and deserted surrounding with no infrastructure or amenities of any type available to them and yet make the barren land cultivable. Many an allottee's patience gives up midway and he abandons the land after years of sustained effort and sinking in of his life long earnings into it which refuses to become productive (It is quite common in the desert areas such as that of Bahawalpur - where the investigator Sehbai has unearthed 400 acres of very fertile land grabbed by the Army Generals). The second purpose that such allotment serves is to station the 'trained manpower' at the borders who do not vacate the area at the start of the border hostilities but stay there to defend it. They form a very useful part of the Second Line force.
Again, to safeguard such close-to-the-border lands against falling into the hands of undesirable elements like - smugglers, terrorists, enemy agents or unpatriotic persons - these cannot be sold or transferred to others without the specific scrutiny and permission of the Army, Air or Naval Headquarters.