G-B’s status

For too long has Gilgit-Baltistan essentially been treated as a protectorate of the federal government. In an encouraging move, after a high-level meeting a few weeks ago, attended by the army chief as well as senior members of all major Pakistan parties and the prime minister of Azad Kashmir, the government says it has been decided to grant provisional provincial status to the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan. This is a decision that the people of the region have waited for a long time. Till now, they have been caught up in limbo, created since Partition, when the status of Kashmir was left undecided.

The people of Gilgit-Baltistan deserve their rights to be honoured. It is the duty of the centre to learn from its mistakes in the past and truly treat Gilgit-Baltistan as an equal partner in the federation. Ever since 1947, the region has been governed from the centre and essential civil liberties have been curtailed. Since independence, Gilgit-Baltistan has been given a special status which, as in the former tribal areas, did not put it under the ambit of the constitution. There is really no legitimate reason why Gilgit-Baltistan should be kept outside of mainstream Pakistan.

Giving Gilgit-Baltistan provincial status is complicated by the fact that the territory is disputed, with India claiming it is part of Jammu and Kashmir – to which it lays claim and parts of which it has brutally occupied. Which is why India has reacted in a sharp manner against Pakistan's decision. On Sunday, Pakistan categorically rejected the 'irresponsible and unwarranted' statement regarding Gilgit-Baltistan by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, saying that 'India has no locus standi whatsoever on the issue – legal, moral or historical'. This is no doubt a highly sensitive matter. But given that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan have waited long enough, they deserve dignity and the right to vote in their own government. It is long past time for Gilgit-Baltistan to enjoy the same constitutional protections as the rest of the country. At the moment, they stand nowhere. The fact that major Kashmiris parties were not included in the discussion is somewhat disturbing. We hope this can be corrected in the future. For the moment it has been decided that an election in Gilgit-Baltistan will be held in November, and all political parties have already begun their campaigns with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spending several days in the region and Maryam Nawaz reaching the area in a day or so.

Certainly somebody needs to protect this region. It has been left on its own for far too long and cannot simply be left to stand in this situation. Popular leaders from Gilgit-Baltistan, most importantly including Baba Jan, remain in jail over farcical charges. And over the years activists have continued to report heavy-handed crackdowns and constant surveillance. It is such a contradiction that the region that is most crucial to CPEC is the one that has the least autonomy. There is tentative hope that Gilgit-Baltistan's status as Pakistan's fifth province will empower the region and its people and help fix what has been left neglected in the area so that the people and their rights can be fully protected and fully guaranteed.