Challenges for the new Government of Gilgit-Baltistan

Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is thathe remote and forgotten corner of Pakistan, which that only catches attention of the media, when there is a natural disaster or an incident of terrorism. There is a generally confusion about the status of this region. Some consider this the region as a part of Khyber Pakhtoon Khawa, while the others place it in Kashmir, so much so that even. Even the Government of Pakistan is not sureappears unsure about the status. While it has it has a high profile presence in the area and is administered directly by the Federation, the stated position of the government is that GBit is not part of Pakistan but is in fact, a disputed territory. There is an obvious contradiction in the stance of the government, for t. The people of these areas have no neither linguistic nor ethnic connection with Kashmir or Jammu. It appears that the oOccupation of this region by a hostile state is the basis for this stance. Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: This needs to be clarified. Are you saying that the stance implies that this region is occupied by hostile state or are you talking about occupied Kashmir? Despite the demand of the indigenous people for integration within Pakistan, no steps have been taken to address this vital issue. Resultantly, whenever elections are held for electing representatives to a local assembly that is essentially a local government- level institution, the people tend to align themselves with the government of the day in the hope of getting their identity as a Pakistanis.

This is an identity for which they not only opted voluntarily but also for which they struggled courageously and successfully in their ouster of the Dogra rulers. for which they had opted voluntarily after a valiant struggle against the Dogra rule. When Pakistan came into existence on the world map, the people of this region saw an opportunity to change their destiny and become part of a Muslim state. Every one unanimously decided to join Pakistan after liberating this vast region afterUnanimously in favour of joining Pakistan, they engaged the Dogras, taking on a brutal and long drawn out two year battle of two years against a well organizedwell-organized and ruthless army. After the formal accession, the The people thought they had become Pakistanis. after the formal accession. To their dismay, they found discovered that they had been relegated to an adjunct of Frontier province. Worse yet, but worse had yet to come when t their fate was sealed further by the infamous 1951 Karachi Pact between Government of Pakistan and Sardar Ibrahim, a Muslim Congress Kashmiri leader who did not represent this area and had nothing to do with the region. This pact handed over the administration of this vast region to Government of Pakistan. Initially in the prevailing confusion about the status of the area, it was administered by the Frontier Province, which . The provincial government promptly posted a junior civil servant as the Political Agent of the area. The gentleman who wasBeing devoid of any the capability or capacity to understand the implications of administering such a vast area with spread very difficult terrain, this gentleman took chose a shortcut and recommended the introduction of the Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR) that could stifle and suppress any dissent. Tragically, this black law a remnant of colonial rule was readily imposed by provincial government on the inhabitants who had reposed trust in the state of Pakistan. Later on this area was handed over to Ministry of Kashmir Affairs where the new viceroy was the Joint Secretary who lorded over the people of Gilgit Baltistan for many years. Unfortunately, these new rulers also followed the royal ways of Maharaja of Kashmir in dealing with simple and trusting people of Gilgit-Baltistan. It was the Pakistan People Party and their visionary leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who abolished FCR as well a few remaining princely states and introduced the regular civil administrative structure to GB. This set up however continued to be controlled by the federal government.

When Pakistan People Party again came into power, it introduced a Legal Framework Order giving them a limited authority for over local affairs through an elected body. After that a number of Successively, times peripheral and insignificant changes were made in this Legal Framework Order till 2009. Pakistan People Party again addressed the issue and promulgated an Empowerment Order giving the region its identity of Gilgit-Balstistan with a Governor and Chief Minister. In this order dueDue to bureaucratic resistance for towards devolvingdelegating the powers, Pakistan People Party did not gocould not go far enough. However, but admittedly it was a giant step in mainstreaming the area with itsand conferring its own distinct identity. Offices of Governor and Chief Minister also gave an impression that the area had become the fifth province of Pakistan.During all these years while the social sectors were neglected, the intervention of Aga Khan Foundation, Marafie Foundation and many other NGOs were nurturinghelped to nurture a silent revolution in GB except with reference to a small pocket in the educational sector and poverty alleviation. Today one comes across many villages in the remotest corners of the area with 100 % literacy rate. This development has naturally brought political awareness, and we now hear strong voices for raised in the bid for constitutional rights. With KKH their exposure to the outside world and inter-action with the people from various parts of Pakistan, these voices aare becoming stronger. While The people of GB have their sympathies with the population of sympathize with the populace of occupied Kashmir, and have acceptedaccepting all flawed governance arrangements imposed upon themselves so as not to disturb debunk the myth that devolving powers to GB will weaken the Kashmiri cause. However, giving them rights will compromise the Kashmir cause but when they see discrimination even in the empowerment of two disputed territories i.e. AJK & GB, they rightly question the wisdom of denial of theirbeing denied their constitutional rights in the name of the Kashmiri cause. Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: ?For the people of GB, it was never disputed in dispute that it was part of Pakistan and continues to be the only choicethat this was so by choice. The UN Resolution regarding disputed territoriesy as well as the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan enjoins Government of Pakistan to give them the people of GB complete autonomy. The demand was is so strong that every national political party that participated in the recent local assembly elections has made a firm commitment as part of their its manifesto to settle this issue of constitutional rights and formal integration of the area in Pakistan conclusively. The settlement of constitutional issue and the merger of this area is the crucial challenge. If under the influence of myopic thinking of bureaucracy the Government again tries to postpone it, then there will be strong reaction that can transformturn into popular agitation. Yet another meaningless amendment in the governance structures is not an option.The dDevelopment of this area is the second most significant fundamental challenge. Political governments neglected this area because it GB had no representation in the federal institutions where the resources are were allocated. It was only during the military regimes that this area received attention because of its strategic importance. Prior to the recent election, the prime Prime Minster announced a package that seems to beapproximates a mere political statementstatement, as there are no allocations for this package in the budget for the next financial year. It should be noted that tThe ambitious program of development in Pakistan is deeply linked with to this region as the economic corridor runs through it the latter, and all mega hydropower projects and the proposed water storage dam is are also envisaged to be located in this area. The Prime Minister of Pakistan recently convened a meeting of stakeholders of economic corridor, but regrettablybut, regrettably, the Federal Government did not deem it necessaryconsider necessary to invite the leaders of G-B. It is now the responsibility of the elected members of the Assembly to push the Federation to settle the constitutional issue and urge for development that should will be integrated with economic corridor, benefitting and should benefit the entire region and not just some roadside show pieces. In Against the backdrop of the hostile attitude and propaganda by Indian leaders, it is important to avoid any situation that can trigger large- scale agitation in this sensitive region. They should also remember the sacrifices of thousands of their sonsGilgiti and Balti soldiers who have laid down their lives for the sake of Pakistans sovereignty in the battleground against the Indian army. Even today in the icy heights of Siachin despite large number of casualties, these brave soldiersy continue to confront the enemy, . They are also rightly proud of the fact that a new regiment namely NLI from this areathe GB-origin regiment, the Northern Light Infantry (NLI) is the most decorated regiment of the Pakistan Army. PML (N) has a clear majority. T they should be able to see the gathering storms and understand that if the impending storm is ignored further, can turn intoa serious political movement may take birth that will not only disturb the peace in this highly sensitive area but will also will compromise the economic corridor projects as well as dismantle the dream ofthereby putting paid to the dreams of clean and affordable energy for the country. Such dDisturbance will alsofurther make it difficult to execute the water storage at Diamer. The pPeople have spoken through their vote, and it is time to stop testing their patience. It will indeed be an epic tragedy, if the denizens of GBbe tragic if they, after years of enduring political shortchanging and attendant disempowerment, finally lose their confidence in solutions of their problems through a political and democratic process with very serious outcome for the entire country.democratic solutions in favour of potentially lethal agitation and dissent.