THE STRONG ROLE OF PAKISTAN MILITARY IN THE

LIGHT OF REALISM AND MARXISM

Introduction

Decisions regarding the military or any decisions to be taken for the effective running of higher
management have always been a harmonized and well-discussed effort between the civil and the
military forces in all the democratic countries of the world. However, in the case of Pakistan, it is
the opposite. The country has hardly been ruled by civilian elected governments and thus, the
civilians have never established their legitimacy over the military. “When all you have is a
hammer, then everything looks like a nail”, the famous writer and novelist Jeff Grub's quotation
perfectly sums up the Pakistan Army's never-ending role in running Pakistan's business since her
independence in 1947. Soon after the independence from British rule, the Pakistan Army took
over the country and since then, it has swept itself into power corridors and systematically
weakened other institutions to establish its hegemony over them.

Through the lens of International Relations, Pakistan is regarded as a security state. This notion
of the state built on the security paradigm is largely due to the intervention of the Pak Army in
political and state affairs. According to the constitution of Pakistan, the armed forces under the
direction of the Federal Government shall defend the country against external aggression, the
threat of war, war and other in a matter where the civilian government specifically ask the forces
for assistance. The Army on the other hand constantly breaches this agreement, each time with a
justification that “the security of the state is under the threads”. The realism theory explains the
military takeover with a justification that the state is a supreme entity, and its survival shall be
the basic aim of the people. The armed forces of Pakistan often express the narrative of Pakistan
First and seek to prioritize the country over the citizens.

Politics is not merely the only way through which the armed forces establish their legitimacy
over the power corridors, wealth does help the forces to establish themselves well against the
civilian. Pakistan Army runs banks, schools, cement factories, the food industry and the mighty
real estate agencies, known to be Defence Housing Authorities. These entrepreneurial earnings
are other than budgetary allocation to the forces. According to Mason (2006), the government
allocated almost 18% of the total budget to defence. The allocated budget excludes the 10%
spending on the safety, research and maintenance of nuclear power, which is often
undocumented in budget books.

The theory of realism claims to explain the reality of international politics. It emphasises the
political constraints imposed by the egoistic nature of human beings and the absence of a central
authority above the state. Realism tends to provide a realistic approach to portraying the nature
of the world. The theory rejects innovative idealization of the system of the world in favour of a
close examination of outward manifestations. Security of the state, being the top agenda of
realists, the theory perfectly synchronizes with the thoughts of military leadership in ruling
Pakistan. The stronghold of the military in politics and economy can be best explained by using
the assumptions of realism and Marxism.

Role of Pakistan Army through the lens of Realism

After World War II, realism theory in international relations became the dominant school of
thought, and it continues to have relevance in current international politics. The basic
assumptions of the theory in the context of Pakistan are as follow.

State is the main actor

The basic assumption of the theory is that the state or state-nation is the main actor in dealing
with the internal and external matters of the country. It states that only the state, given its claim
to sovereignty, possesses the monopoly of legitimate force to resolve conflicts between
individuals and groups within its territory and between itself and other states and international
actors.

Pakistan Army considers the state as the main actor in running the country. The narrative of the
Pak Army has always been that the state is superior to all and must be protected at any cost.
Since the early days, Kashmir has been regarded as the Aorta of the country by the military in
personification that the territory is the main supplier of blood (in terms of Kashmir, water) to the
heart (Pakistan). With this analogy, Kashmir has been considered inseparable from Pakistan and
the opponent in Kashmir, India is regarded as the eternal enemy.

Regarding India as the eternal enemy, the military has always drafted policies based on this
narrative. Considering its India-centric defence policy, Pakistan's defence policy is inextricably
linked to its foreign policy. As one commentator put it, "military needs had to command foreign
policy." And because foreign and defence policies are a matter of survival for the new states,
they have a significant impact on domestic policy. By following this logic, the leader of
Pakistan's army is thrust into the centre of decision-making, first as its arbitrator, and then as its
monopolist (Pattanaik, 2000).

Power Grabbing Is the Main Source of Survival.

The realists believe that there is no superior government, and any state could attack any other
state and there would be no state to stop it. A classical example of it could be the case of Ukraine
where Russia has unilaterally attacked and despite the opposition from NATO and European
Union, Russia is still fighting Ukraine.

In 1950s, when Pakistan Army was shaping itself into an influential institution, mainly because
of the influx of aid from the United States, the Generals were realizing that realism is the key to
survive. The military leaders start preaching the narrative of state security which was to be
fundamental. The narrative persuaded the political leaders to invest the money received in aids
military installations and equipment. According to Crile (2003), the army, during the Afghan-
Soviet war was in government and asked the US to support the military with F-16 Jets and other
military hardware along with financial assistance to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The
United States also turned blind eye to Pakistan Nuclear program and thus the military grabbed
international power.

The international support and prolonged dictatorship gave ample time to the Pakistan army to
establish itself in the politics of Pakistan. The Generals through the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) officers collected intelligence reports of politicians and pitched them against each other.
After the Fall of Dhaka in 1971, when the military was backfoot, there was hope for the civilian
government to establish itself but the rift between the political leaders in 1976-77 led to the
hanging of the then Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and subsequent military coup once
again. Another example of attempts to grab more power was exercised in the 1990s when Nawaz
Sharif and Benazir Bhutto were in serious confrontations which resulted in repeated elections
with each government failing to complete their five-year tenure. The theory of realism sees these
tactics by the military as successful attempts to always remain in power, without which they
would experience a threat to their existence.

Statism

Realists believe that nation-states are the main actors in international politics and states tend to
make rational decisions. In the sense that rational decision-making leads to the pursuit of the
national interest, decision-makers are rational actors. It would be illogical to take actions that
would make the state weak or vulnerable in this situation.

In the case of Pakistan, India since independence has been regarded as the biggest threat to the
country and most of the foreign policy is influenced by this narrative which is often put forward
by the military generals. Pakistan Army mostly designs policies for Kashmir and India, with no
or less involvement of the civilian government.

In the name of statism, the army has also abducted young men in far-flung and poverty-ridden
areas of Ex-FATA and Baluchistan where the citizens rebel against the state for the exploitation
of their rights and resources. To raise their voice against injustice, Pashtun Tahaffuz Moment
(PTM) was initiated which often criticized military involvement in missing persons from their
homes. The military establishment did not seem to like the allegations. In a press conference
when asked about the case, the director general of the inter-services public relation, a military
spokesperson bashingly criticised the allegation declaring that “Nobody can fight the state”
(Desk, 2019).

Self-help

According to realists, there is anarchy in the world and since there is anarchy in the world and no
superior power is there, there is no morality and every state is playing for power grabbing, the
state must also try to influence others through power and grab it to help themselves and boost
their survival.

The army officers of the subcontinent, under British rule, were rewarded with lands and
resources in the subcontinent for their heroics in the second world war which continued after the
independence. Even before the 1958 coup, the army elite continued to receive these land
allocations under every civilian government. Apart from intervening in land ownership in the
agrarian rural sector after the establishment of direct military rule under Ayub Khan, Army
officers were inducted into state institutions running industry, finance, commerce, construction,
and other sectors. Officers in the armed forces began to invest in stocks and shares, and some
went on to found businesses. However, these stood out from the crowd instead of following the
norm. Most middle- and high-ranking officers who had retired had been given highly paid
positions managing state businesses and other civil institutions. Apart from that, the military
established itself in the local and international industry by establishing cement factories, sugar
mills, farmhouses, housing societies and a banking system (Khan, 2008).

Marxism theory describes the struggle to get economic power between the capitalists and the
working class. It explains that in the capitalist society, the capitalists take away all the surplus
produce and the working class is not given their due share, in this way the capitalists accumulate
the power of economy and build a superstructure in the society. The superstructure rises above
the economic structure and consists of legal and political forms of social consciousness that
correspond to the economic structure (McLellan, Chambre, & Henri 2022). The stronghold of the
army in the economy of Pakistan as discussed above led the generals to capitalize upon and built
a superstructure of political and social dominance over the citizens of Pakistan. The stronghold
of the army was recently witnessed when Pakistan was in desperate need of dollars and the ex-
army chief had to intervene and negotiate with the US to ensure an IMF loan to the country
(Baabar, 2022).

Zero-sum Games by the Military Dictators

Realism theory claim that the international system is in a state of conflict or anarchy where each
state seeks to strengthen its economic and military powers to protect and pursue its own national
interests. Thus, the scarcity effect will still have an impact on the competing state economies and
the global political system in this situation, even if the dominant state and weaker states have
comparable political systems. Opportunities for economic growth will also decrease as the
abundance of exploitable, finite resources declines. Interstate relations will turn into a zero-sum
game where one state gains at the expense of another in this situation. When this happens, the
dominant state will use its power to ensure its survival and economic security based on these
considerations. According to Schweller (2014), no state can have a positive trade balance
because everyone will have status in that situation. Scarcity, in other words, implies status (Peter,
et al. 2014).

The military establishment has since its emergence in power politics played a Zero-sum game
with the public institutions of Pakistan. The belief that power is everything has propelled the
army to achieve the top position at any cost. In 74 years of Pakistan’s existence, three military
rulers have ripped the constitutions and have established military dictatorships by introducing
Martial law. These dictatorships have weakened the political system which resulted in a fragile
economy, weak education system and terrorism. These coups gave the military an edge in the
political system and when even the military is not in power, a hybrid model consisting of
military influence and stakes in the parliamentary system and a weak democratic government
dependent upon the mercy of the militia.

The heavy presence of the military has a psychological impact on the lives of the citizens. Since
large chunks of the budget (either document or not) are allocated for the security of the country,
the provision of education and quality of life to the citizens have been compromised. The
citizenry with no quality education gets excited by the patriotic and emotional national songs the
media wing of the army produces. The media wing manipulates the masses through highly
emotional content displaying the heroics of soldiers on a choreographed battlefield. Emotions to
the less critical masses with heavy manipulations result in massive support for the army. The
army is often deployed on strategic roads and highways, which gives them an extra edge to deal
directly with the general public. The militia with their strict nature and behavior impel the
subjects to show their softest nature to escape trouble. These experiences on daily basis result in
a sense of consternation from the army men. On the bigger picture, this fear suppresses the
masses against military critique which give them a planer pitch to continue exploitation.

During General Zia’s military regime, army officers were handed the highest positions in the
civil bureaucracy which was supplemented by the introduction of 10% quota for the military
officers in the highest civil services of the country to be served in Police, Pakistan
Administrative Services and Foreign Services. More recently, the hybrid system of governance
was observed once again during the Imran Khan government between 2018 and 2022 when the
ex and the current military officers were appointed in civilian institutions. One of the reasons of
appointment in key positions is that the army cadets unlike any civilian officers are well
equipped and highly trained according to the needs of the modern world and it is perceived to be
a part of the Zero-sum game played by the Pak army to succumb other institutions so that
hegemony could be established over them.

Conclusion

A constitution is a legal document to define institutions and to assign power and duties to the
institutions to create a balance of power which may ensure the effective running of the state. The
constitution of Pakistan under the Articles 243, 244 and 245 defines the powers and duties of the
armed forces. Since its independence, the military has indulged more than once in the political
sphere of the country through direct rule in the form of martial laws or supporting politicians to
cement their supremacy. The supremacy of militia over civilians can be explained by the theories
of international relations, i.e., Realism, Neo-realism and Marxism. Realism best explains the
hegemonic role of the Pak Army in devising foreign policy and deciding upon the key decisions
in establishing relations within and outside Pakistan. The military in Pakistan considers itself the
state and as the realists believe in the supremacy of the state over the citizens, the dictators do so
by strengthening the institution and weakening other institutions by unequal distribution of
resources and use of power to turn any situation in their favour. The unconstitutional rule of
military has done enough damage to the masses and to ulter that, a new social contract in
imminent.

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