Perks at Sea: How Pakistan’s Navy Built a Parallel Economy of Privilege

by Commodore Ranjit B Rai (Retd)

Image credits: Access Hub

A Nation Afloat on Privilege, Sinking in Scarcity

The story of the Pakistani Navy is not confined to patrols and parades; it is also a story of privilege, privilege stitched into uniforms and carried into gated colonies. To wear the naval crest means unlocking a hidden economy, one where houses are gifted at throwaway prices, taxes dissolve into thin air, and retirement does not bring uncertainty but a guaranteed place within the vast corporate empire of Bahria Foundation. To live as a citizen outside this circle, however, is to wrestle with ballooning rents, slashed subsidies, and endless lectures on the benefits of living life in austerity, as a sage. The contrast is obscene, one Pakistan afloat on privilege, the other sinking in scarcity.

Subsidised Land, Gated Wealth

Housing is the most visible of these perks. Entire neighbourhoods in Karachi and Islamabad have been carved into enclaves for officers, plots distributed through military channels at subsidised rates so absurd that they cease to resemble purchases at all and instead resemble coronations. A piece of land acquired for a fraction of its worth is later sold at market price, yielding profit without enterprise, and investment without risk. This is wealth generated not by effort but by entitlement. Outside these gated complexes, ordinary families battle rent hikes and endure homes without steady water or electricity, whilst lawns behind naval gates are kept green and manicured. Service to the Navy is converted into inheritance; inheritance becomes capital, leaving civilians to count loose change for the bare minimum, whilst officers count properties.

Tax Havens in Uniform

Taxation tells a similar tale. Where the average citizen pays cess on everything from salaries to electricity bills, officers glide through exemptions. Cars are imported with reduced duties, properties are exchanged without the taxes that weigh on the ordinary buyer, and salaries accumulate without the same erosion. In a country where the IMF dictates the cutting of subsidies on food, fuel, and power, these tax havens for naval and most military families stand out as islands of impunity.

The arithmetic is cruel: a teacher pays full levy on her modest salary, a shopkeeper pays inflated bills under the guise of ‘austerity’, yet naval officers drive duty-free vehicles down the same roads and occupy houses unburdened by tax. When privilege is flaunted so openly, taxation becomes not a shared duty but a selective punishment.

Bahria Foundation: Retirement or Reward?

If subsidised land and tax immunity are the perks of service, the Bahria Foundation, established by the Government of Pakistan (Pakistan Navy) in 1982, is the crown jewel of retirement. Established under the guise of welfare, it has expanded into a conglomerate that spans shipping, schools, logistics, and food chains. If one pauses for a moment and asks the question of who staffs its management, the prelude to the story becomes clear.

Retired naval officers are appointed not as an afterthought but as a rule. Admirals become executives, captains become directors, and privilege flows seamlessly from uniform to boardroom. Ironically, it is a supposed charitable trust that hosts the Chief of Naval Staff as its chairman. For officers, retirement is not an anxious crossing into uncertainty but a second career guaranteed by rank. For ordinary Pakistanis, retirement means pensions eaten away by inflation, or unemployment without a cushion. Bahria promises ‘welfare’ but delivers monopoly, its profits built on state contracts and funnelled back into the hands of those who once commanded ships.

This entire ecosystem is justified in the language of service and sacrifice, but its reality is enrichment without accountability. Subsidised houses that turn into speculative assets, taxes waived while citizens bear the burden of IMF austerity, jobs guaranteed to retired personnel at Bahria, while the nation’s youth line up outside job fairs with degrees in hand. The Navy proclaims itself as the sentinel of sovereignty, but its officers live in fortresses of comfort while ordinary people are told to tighten their belts for the sake of national survival. In truth, to think about the greater good is asked only of the poor.

The Defence of a Caste

The symbolism is cruelly poetic. A Navy tasked with guarding the high seas has become the master of land, land that civilians cannot afford. Officers talk of defending sovereignty while exempt from the taxes that fund sovereignty. Retirees preach service while drawing corporate salaries from Bahria’s empire. Meanwhile, fishermen in Gwadar are pushed off their waters, students in Karachi struggle to pay fees, and families in Lahore cut meals to afford electricity. This is not shared sacrifice; it is selective privilege disguised as patriotism.

Pakistan’s crisis is not just economic in nature; it is moral as well. The theme of austerity has become a theatre performed for the international lenders while officers and their families enjoy immunity. Citizens are told to be patient, to endure the whip of inflation, while those in uniform sail past in untaxed cars, live in subsidised homes, and retire into Bahria’s empire. Perks at sea are not charity. They are structures of exploitation, maintained by power and protected by silence.

Until this dual economy is confronted, the challenges of a rigorous lifestyle will remain a cruel joke. The Navy shall continue to enrich its own whilst citizens sink further under the weight of cuts and levies. Pakistan tells the world that it cannot afford subsidies for the poor, yet it continues to subsidise privilege for the powerful. This is not the defence of a nation; it is the defence of a caste. The caste of the milbus, i.e., those with the military capital. And the people know it, for they are the ones paying the bill.

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About Author

Commodore Ranjit B Rai (Retd) is the author of the book 'The Indian Navy @75: Reminiscing the Voyage. He is an RNSC-qualified officer who served as Director Naval Intelligence and Director Naval Operations and writes on maritime matters. He also served as the India Representative of Waterman Steam Ships USA and curated the New Delhi Maritime Museum.