Criticism of the military of Pakistan

In Pakistan, Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, and some intelligence agencies are considered as part of Pakistani military. Over the years, the military has been criticized for its past and present actions. Most of the criticism is levelled against Pakistan Army who is the most dominant branch of Pakistan's military. It has been criticized for eroding democratic processes in Pakistan, for being the largest business conglomeration in the country, for excessive control over the domestic and foreign policies of Pakistan, for war crimes, role in Bengali genocide, and corruption within the institution.^[1][2]

Criticism of military is generally considered as no-go area and fierce critics are treated brutally by the military from enforced disappearances to extrajudicial killings. Some of the critics of Pakistan Army, such as human rights activist Manzoor Pashteen, have been jailed while others like Ahmad Noorani and Taha Siddiqui have been forced to flee the country.^[3][4]

In 2019, The Economist blamed Pakistan Army for the poverty in Pakistan.^[5]

Pakistan Army

Handling of corruption allegations

Pakistan Army runs Fauji Foundation which sold Khoski Sugar Mill in 2004 for PKR 300 million despite receiving the highest bid of PKR 387 million.^[6][7] In 2005, a corruption case was filed in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against then managing director Syed Muhammad Amjad who involved in the corruption.^[8]

In 2010, a corruption scandal was unearthed that involved two Pakistan Army generals, (Maj Gen Khalid Zaheer Akhtar and Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal), and caused a loss of Rs. 1.8 billion to the National Logistics Corporation through speculative investments between 2004 and 2008.^[9][10] In 2015, both of them were convicted by the military court of Pakistan.^[11]

Involvement in government

The Pakistan Army controls the foreign policy of Pakistan.^[12]

Throughout Pakistan's history, the military has maintained a dominant role over civilian governments, a pattern that persisted into the 2020s. Military leaders such as Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, and Pervez Musharraf developed close ties with the United States, often being formally received by U.S. presidents only after assuming power. The elevation of General Asim Munir to field marshal and his meeting with President Donald Trump were seen by analysts as further evidence of military dominance, bypassing civilian leadership and raising concerns about democratic backsliding and diminished public accountability.^[13] In June 2025, Pakistan's defense minister publicly endorsed the "hybrid model" of governance, in which the military held significant influence over the civilian government and state affairs through an informal power-sharing arrangement.^[14][15] The current hybrid regime in Pakistan, as described by political analyst Rasul Bakhsh Rais, involves major political parties voluntarily serving as a façade for the military establishment in exchange for legal relief and political relevance, effectively rendering them appendages within a military-dominated power structure.^[15]

Islamization of Pakistan

Main article: Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization of Pakistan

Pakistan Army was involved in the Islamisation of Pakistan in the past, especially under Zia-ul-Haq's martial law and domestic policy of Islamisation of Pakistan.^[16][17][18] Zia-ul-Haq and other military officials began the policy of Islamisation in Pakistan.^[17][18][16]

During the rule of General Zia-ul-Haq a "program of Islamization" of the country including the textbooks was started to ingrain school kids with Islamised fundamentals.^{[19] [20]} According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, since the 1970s Pakistan's school textbooks have systematically inculcated hatred towards India and Hindus through historical revisionism.^[21] Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani military taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them.'^[22]

Policy against India

Pakistan Army has used military doctrine of Bleed India with a Thousand Cuts in the past against India.^[23][24][25] It consists of waging covert war against India using insurgents at multiple locations.^[26]

According to scholar Aparna Pande, this view was put forward in various studies by the Pakistan Army, particularly in its Staff College, Quetta.^[27] Peter Chalk and Christine Fair cite the former director of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) explicating the strategy.^[28] This doctrine was first attempted to flame the Punjab insurgency and then Kashmir insurgency using India's western border with Pakistan.^[29][30]

General Zia-ul-Haq adopted the 'bleeding India through a thousand cuts' doctrine using covert and low-intensity warfare with militancy and infiltration.^[31][30][29]

Involvement in Economy

Pakistan’s military has maintained substantial influence over the country’s economy through both formal and informal means. According to Ayesha Siddiqa’s Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, the military controls a wide-ranging commercial network known as "Milbus," consisting of enterprises that operate outside the official defense budget and are primarily for the benefit of military personnel.^[32] These ventures include banks, factories, real estate, and retail businesses, granting the military significant economic autonomy. This economic power has reportedly contributed to the military’s entrenched role in political decision-making and has hindered democratic development by distorting markets and reducing civilian oversight. The military’s influence was further evident in July 2025, when representatives of private foreign exchange companies met with Major General Faisal Naseer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to discuss the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee—an area typically managed by civilian institutions such as the State Bank of Pakistan. This event underscored the military’s informal oversight of financial markets and its broader involvement in economic governance. Despite ongoing economic challenges, including high inflation, rising external debt, and declining foreign reserves—reportedly down to A$5.2 billion in 2025—the military remained financially insulated. Its assets grew from A$30 billion in 2016 to over A$39.8 billion, while its annual budget allocation increased to A$11.27 billion. During this period, senior officers, including General Qamar Javed Bajwa, reportedly accumulated significant personal wealth, and military-affiliated businesses continued to thrive, reflecting the institution’s sustained financial and political influence amid national economic instability.^[32][33][34]

In 2025, Pakistan faced severe economic challenges, including 38 percent inflation, critically low foreign reserves, and over 100 million people living below the poverty line, while the military elite reportedly remained financially insulated, maintaining affluent lifestyles and expansive business interests. Amid International Monetary Fund-imposed austerity measures that affected the broader population, the defense budget remained largely protected, rising to approximately PKR 2.13 trillion for the 2024–25 fiscal year. This included an 11 percent increase in military salaries and pensions. In contrast, public spending on essential services remained limited, with education receiving only 2 percent of GDP and healthcare 1.3 percent, highlighting a significant disparity in resource allocation between defense and social sectors.^[35]

Enforced disappearances in Pakistan

Main article: Forced disappearance in Pakistan

The military is allegedly responsible for the thousands of kidnapping and disappearances.^[36] and described as epidemic by Human Rights Watch (HRW),^[37] forced appearances, extrajudicial killings and targeted killings of people which the military consider enemy of the state.^{[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]} Through direct involvement of military and ISI in these activities.^{[47][48][49][50][51][52]} In July 2011, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan issued a report on illegal disappearances in Balochistan which identified ISI and Frontier Corps as the perpetrators.^[53] The military in Pakistan is responsible for the ongoing forced disappearance in Pakistan, a form of kidnapping, torturing and extrajudicial killing its own citizens without any judicial due process. After the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, forced disappearance in Pakistan began during the rule of military dictator General Pervez Musharraf (1999 to 2008).^[54] After Musharraf resigned in August 2008, he was charged with various human rights violations.^[55] During Musharraf's tenure, many people were forcibly taken away by government agencies.^[55][56][57]

Training of Jihadi outfits

Pervez Musharraf has conceded that his forces trained militant groups to fight India in Indian-administered Kashmir.^[58] He confessed that the government ″turned a blind eye″ because it wanted to force India to enter into negotiations, as well as raise the issue internationally.^[58] He also said Pakistani spies in the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) cultivated the Taliban after 2001 because Karzai's government was dominated by non-Pashtuns, who are the country's largest ethnic group, and by officials who were thought to favour India.^[59]

Pakistan Air Force

Allegations of corruption

Pakistan Air Force runs Shaheen Foundation which founded Shaheen Insurance in 1995 as a joint venture with a South African insurance company, Hollard Group.^[60] Later, Hollard's management was dissatisfied with the investment, citing corruption as a major impediment to their investment's success.^[60]

Pakistan Navy

Handling of corruption allegations

Main article: Karachi affair

Pakistan Navy's officials were found guility of corruption in Karachi affair. Commissions of 6.25% of the contract, approximately €50 million, were paid out to the lobbying firms in Pakistan and France.^[61] Some €50m were allegedly paid as "sweeteners" to various senior Pakistan Navy admirals and officers as well as the political leaders. In 1996–97, the Naval Intelligence led by its Director-General, Rear-Admiral Tanvir Ahmed, secretly launched its investigations into this matter and began collecting physical evidence that eventually led to the exposure of Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Mansurul Haq, in receiving massive monetary commissions in 1997.^[62] Massive media coverage and the news of the dismissals of one and two-star admirals tarnished the image of the Navy, with Admiral Fasih Bokhari, who took over the command of the Navy from Admiral Mansurul Haq, forced to attempt damage control of the situation.^[63][64]

Businesses

Pakistan's military runs and controls a vast network of business enterprises and conglomerates in Pakistan with more than 50 business entities; owned through Army Welfare Trust, Bahria Foundation, Defence Housing Authority, Fauji Foundation, and Shaheen Foundation; which includes petrol pumps, industrial plants, banks, bakeries, schools and universities, hosiery factories, milk dairies, stud farms, and cement plants, as well Defence Housing Authority townships.^[65]

See also

• Deep state