MUZAFFARABAD:
The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has
decided to lodge a protest against any attempt to convert Gilgit-Baltistan
(G-B) into a province of Pakistan.
Treasury members tabled a resolution against the
proposed provincial status for G-B in the AJK Legislative Assembly Secretariat
on Saturday. The assembly members will debate the resolution in the session
scheduled for January 12.
Talking to The
Express Tribune, AJK Minister for Rehabilitation Abdul Majid Khan said that
making G-B the fifth province of Pakistan will dent the Kashmir cause. “Giving
provincial status to G-B will serve the interests of the enemies of Jammu and
Kashmir and will therefore be counterproductive,” he said.
AJK Minister for Finance, Planning and Development
Chaudhry Latif Akbar endorsed Majid. “G-B is part and parcel of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir,” he told a news conference at the AJK Prime Minister’s
House. “Any attempt to merge it into Pakistan will deal a fatal blow to our
stance in the light of the UN resolutions envisaging the right to
self-determination for the Kashmiris,” he said.
Terming Gilgit a constitutional part of Kashmir,
Akbar said, “We will not allow division of Kashmir at any cost.” He pointed out
that Pakistan had been given administrative control of G-B on a temporary
basis, and advised the federal government to “not think beyond that”.
He called upon the government to give the same
rights to G-B that AJK and other provinces enjoy. He said the establishment was
conspiring against the nation and did not want to see it united.
Majid also urged the federal government to empower
the people of G-B.
In recent days,
there has been speculation on changing the constitutional status of G-B, which
is historically claimed by India. This comes in the wake of Beijing’s concerns
about building a section of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through the
disputed area.
Published in The
Express Tribune, January 10th, 2016.
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