Washington, Sept 20 Pakistan writer Ayesha Siddiqa has reiterated that the Pakistan Army should disentangle itself from the ‘vast business empire’ it has created, if it wants to succeed as a professional fighting force.

Speaking ahead of launching her book ‘Military Inc’ at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, Siddiqa dismissed speculations that she was on a mission to defame the Pakistani military, and said that the military’s vast business interests not only introduces a culture of ‘cronyism’, but also hurts its own professional capabilities.

She gave the example of China, saying that country has realised how the military’s involvement in business hurts the institution and the country.

Siddiqa said that Iran is also facing similar problem after the involvement of the Pasdaran, a paramilitary force, in commercial ventures, which has created a culture of corruption and cronyism.

Explaining her stand, she showed how the military’s economic empire -- which she calls Milbus, shortened from military business -- has expanded rapidly since its modest beginning in the early 1950s, the Dawn reported.

The book claims that the army is now the country’s biggest conglomeration. The tri-service Fauji Foundation, the army’s Army Welfare Trust, the air force’s Shaheen Foundation, and the Navy’s Bahria Foundation now control over 100 companies that make cement, fertilisers, cereal, and operate in the fields of IT, insurance, banking and education.

She went on to claim that the military is already Pakistan’s biggest landholder, as it has institutionalised the colonial system of granting land. Officers get urban plots and farmland at throwaway prices. General Musharraf got eight plots, worth over 10 million dollars. (With inputs from ANI)