Pakistani designs in Gilgit Baltistan - injustice and plundering will continue, Dr Shabir Choudhry

Pakistani designs in Gilgit Baltistan - injustice and plundering will continue

Dr Shabir Choudhry      11 November 2020

 

Imran Khan, who is called a ‘Selected’ Prime Minister of Pakistan, during his visit to Gilgit Baltistan on 1 November 2020, declared that he will make Gilgit Baltistan a ‘fifth province’ of Pakistan is illegal and unconstitutional. This unwise decision, in view of many experts strongly believe that, is clearly against the UN Security Council Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

 

This decision is also against Pakistan’s policy on Jammu and Kashmir. In addition to this, the declaration is also against Article 1 and article 257 of the constitution of Pakistan.

 

Sadly, in making U Turn on the declared policy of Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and on violating two articles of the Constitution of Pakistan, many people of Pakistan and Gilgit Baltistan are expressing happiness and treating it as a big success.

 

This decision has proven that Pakistan was never a well-wisher, an advocate or an Ambassador of the people of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani designs became apparent when they violated the Standstill Agreement and launched a military operation to occupy Kashmir on 22 October 1947.

 

The Pakistani policy on Jammu and Kashmir has always been that of an imperial power. However, they were shrewd enough to use the name of religion to fool people of Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Those people who have been very subservient and loyal to Pakistan, complain that “their loyalty has not been reciprocated because Pakistan’s establishment does not trust them”, said Akbar Hussain Akbar, Chief Spokesman of Imran Khan’s PTI in Gilgit Baltistan.

 

Once again, Pakistan is fooling people in the name of development. Balochistan is a province of Pakistan, what development have they made there? They have looted and plundered resources of Balochistan to enrich themselves, and people of Balochistan are suffering immensely.

 

If they wanted to empower people of Gilgit Baltistan and carry out development programmes, they could have done that in 73 years of their occupation. To develop a region, one doesn’t need constitutional changes. What is required for development and to empower people is a clean heart and will, which is absent.

 

If Imran Khan had any sympathy with people of Gilgit Baltistan, then he could have declared to abolish Schedule Four, which restricts fundamental rights of the people; and other anti-people laws which allow secret agencies to curb fundamental rights of the people.

 

Imran Khan could have declared to release all political prisoners, like Baba Jan and dozens of other people imprisoned for demanding fundamental rights.

 

He could have declared that people of Gilgit Baltistan will have a big say in the CPEC projects, and that they will be empowered and appropriately trained and educated to play an important role in matters related to the CPEC.

 

Additionally, he could have declared that Gilgit Baltistan will have royalty of dams and the CPEC projects that the local people can benefit.

 

By doing what they have done in Gilgit Baltistan, and in Jammu and Kashmir, they have totally exposed themselves. People of Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistani occupied Jammu and Kashmir should take note of this and formulate appropriate policies to fight back Pakistani imperialism.

 

What suffering people of Jammu and Kashmir have endured since 1947, and especially after 1988, that is as a direct of wrong policies of Pakistan, and we need to learn from that.

 

People of Pakistani occupied Jammu and Kashmir need to understand Pakistani collaboration in messing up the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and subsequently ‘resolving’ future of other regions. After they have finished with Gilgit Baltistan, their next target will be so-called Azad Kashmir.

 

In view of the looming threat, the Prime Minister of so called Azad Kashmir needs to formulate appropriate policies, and may consider visiting Britain where more than one million citizens of Azad Kashmir reside.

 

Those who are infatuated with love of Pakistan, and are manipulated by the establishment in name of Islam, need to understand that the Pakistani establishment’s loyalty with their own country is highly questionable. Moreover, their love and care for their own people could be seen from the bitter facts, as to how they have treated people of East Pakistan, various agencies of FATA, Swat, Kohistan, Sindh and Balochistan.

 

All these areas are part of Pakistan. What development have they made in these areas that they will develop areas of Gilgit Baltistan, which are not part of Pakistan and are totally different people.

 

Pakistani agencies have abducted tens of thousands of Pakistani people. Their parents, wives, children, brothers and sisters do not know if their loved ones are alive or dead.

 

Anyone who disagrees with their narrative is castigated as a traitor, anti-State and an Indian agent. They don’t provide any evidence to prove their allegations. If these people are traitors, then why not charge them and present them in the Pakistani courts. There are laws in Pakistan which deal with the issue of treason, but they avoid taking the accused to courts because of lack of evidence.

 

Abduction of the Pakistani citizen is a ‘normal’ and every day event. For some people it is no longer news. Many mainstream print and electronic media are afraid to highlight incidents of abduction mainly because they don’t want to be abducted themselves. Many journalists are abducted, harassed, intimidated, threatened or even killed for speaking truth or for reporting facts which the agencies don’t want people to know.

 

People of Gilgit Baltistan and so called Azad Kashmir are more vulnerable and very easy targets of the secret agencies. If Gilgit Baltistan is annexed, as the Pakistani designs suggest, then they will face more problems.

 

Balochistan is a province of Pakistan, although many people are unhappy with what the establishment is doing there, and tens of thousands of local people are missing, as it is reported in the National Assembly by leaders of Balochistan. Another journalist from Balochistan was abducted for speaking truth and exposing wrong doings of the establishment, and this is what two politicians of Pakistan had to say:

 

Afrasiab Khattak  @a_siab

a prominent Pakistani politician from KPK in a tweet on 04 November 2020 said:

 

‘The abduction of journalist Bayyazeed Roshan today is the latest incident of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, a province that is regarded as a black hole because of its large number of disappeared persons by the state agencies’.

 

Mohsin Dawar @mjdawar, a  member of National Assembly in his tweet of 04 November 2020, on the same incident said:

 

'Strongly condemn the abduction of Bayazid Kharoti from Quetta. One of our long standing demands has been to criminalise enforced disappearances and to hold those responsible to account. We demand for Bayazid to be recovered soon. We hope for him to return safely’.

 

More than a month after Pakistan first unveiled plans to annex the Gilgit-Baltistan region –its only land link to China and located in disputed Kashmir– and grant its residents full citizenship rights, an ominous silence hangs over the isolated mountainous region.

Instead of celebrations, almost all the members of the general population interviewed by This Week in Asia during a three-week tour of Gilgit, Nagar, Hunza and Astore districts last month were sceptical that Islamabad would deliver on its promises.

 

A few smiled indulgently when asked about it, responding with a polite “Inshallah” (God willing). Most were non-committal and responded with the secular equivalent, “we’ll see”.

 

Others just scoffed at the idea that the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan could be changed even to that of a “provisional” province, because of the implications for Pakistan’s long-running dispute with India over Kashmir. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought two wars over it.

 

On Sunday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said a decision had been made to move ahead with the plan, though he gave no time frame for implementation.

 

Some local politicians like Nawaz Khan Naji, founder of the Balawaristan National Front and some local experts of geo political affairs feel that Gilgit Baltistan may become a battleground for ‘a two-front conflict arising from the military stand-off between China and India in Ladakh’.

 

Nawaz Naji, a friend of mine, asserts that China plans to wage a brutal winter war against India in Ladakh… When it starts, all manner of proxy warfare will break out in Gilgit-Baltistan. Gilgit-Baltistan is in the crosshairs of all the major powers because of CPEC”.

 

Nawaz Naji said, “This is the second time Gilgit-Baltistan has been in the eye of a geopolitical storm. The last time was when the Russian Empire and the British Raj clashed here in the 19th century. The borders of Gilgit-Baltistan shifted during the original Great Game, and it’s inevitable they’ll change again as a result of the new Great Game”.

 

It must be noted that the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Modi has consistently asserted his claim over Gilgit Baltistan and so called Azad Kashmir. He did not mince his words, and articulated his claim on the strength of the Indian Constitution and Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh’s accession to India.

 

Mr Modi and other BJP leaders have repeatedly expressed their determination to get back their ‘territory that is illegally occupied by Pakistan’, meaning Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. In this regard they have instructed their army to make appropriate strategies.

 

I hope the Indian army, and for that matter others, who may enter in this war know that the war in this inhospitable region, which is the ‘roof’ of the world, has an impassable and high altitude valley which can create an extremely difficult situation for the ‘invaders’.

Many local people take pride in becoming officers of the Pakistan army. Nearly every household of Gilgit Baltistan has a former soldier or active service who is serving in the armed services.

 

They also fought during the Kargil fiasco and lost many brave young men. In 2009, they also took an active part in the liberation of Swat from the extremists; and many are doing their duties on LOC and in various parts of Pakistan, including FATA and Balochistan.

 

Sons of Gilgit Baltistan who lost their lives while fighting for Pakistan are buried in various graveyards of Gilgit Baltistan; and the Pakistani ‘national flag flies over the graves of Gilgit-Baltistan’s fallen soldiers’

 

The newly created, elected regional assembly was given very limited legislative scope. It is not allowed to raise revenues independently of Islamabad and remains completely dependent on federal grants.

 

The Pakistani establishment and those who are deputed to serve in this area have mastered the art of fooling the local people and looting their resources in so-called Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. I just give one example to illustrate my point.

Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order, 2009 was imposed by Islamabad to ‘provide greater political empowerment and better governance to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan’.

 

At that time, I pointed out that imperialists do not empower their colonies, they present laws and ordinances to strengthen their hold, and where necessary appoint their puppets on key posts to give the impression that the local people are in charge.

 

For example, there is a Gilgit Baltistan Assembly, but like the so called Azad Kashmir Assembly, they are also controlled by Islamabad. For the so-called Azad Kashmir there is Kashmir Council which controls everything; similarly there is Gilgit Baltistan Council, which is Chaired by Pakistan’s Prime Minister. The Council’s Members are chosen from the Puppet Assembly, and the Pakistani Member of the Council outnumber Members of the Gilgit Baltistan.

 

Gilgit Baltistan has a tax-free status, however, Pakistan’s government collects more than US $200 million a year in customs duties on overland trade with China, rather than allowing the Gilgit Baltistan government to accrue the revenue.

The Gilgit Baltistan Assembly and the Government are controlled by senior officers from Islamabad. These Pakistani senior officers live and act like the British Viceroys; and the civil service of the Gilgit Baltistan is totally controlled by them.

 

Employment among the graduates of Gilgit Baltistan is rampant, and instead of employing the local graduates to provide them employment, to empower them, and to make them part of the system, they send Pakistani bureaucrats to act as superior beings.

These Pakistani officers sent on ‘deputations’ to Gilgit Baltistan receive ‘generous allowances’ because of out of the area posting. The salary of senior bureaucrats is above US $24,000 a year, which makes them among the top 10 percent of earners in Pakistan. It must be noted that according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectation, ‘GDP per capita in Pakistan is expected to reach 1130.00 USD by the end of 2020’.

These senior officials are posted for the period of three years. They adopt an extravagant lifestyle; and on their return to Pakistan they take away several hundred thousand US dollars – all paid for from the federal government’s small annual budgetary grant to Gilgit-Baltistan’.

 

With the Assembly, government, civil service and justice still firmly in hands of Pakistan, the local people are apprehensive of Pakistani establishment’s designs about this region. They feel the establishment which has ruled this region with an iron fist since November 1947, will not surrender their unconstrained power even if Gilgit Baltistan is granted a status of a province.

 

Many critics think whatever the ‘legal status’ of Gilgit Baltistan, changes on the ground will be largely cosmetic, and there will be more problems for the local people. The presence of many Pakistani secret agencies, including agencies of China and other countries could not be pleasant for the local people, as this will result in curbing of the civil liberties, intimidation and harassment. It could also result in more corruption and enhance the system of patronage.

 

In Azad Kashmir, to a large extent, State Subject Laws are not violated – ownership of the land is largely reserved for the local people. However, in Gilgit Baltistan, it is different. The local people are extremely concerned on the issue of the ‘massive influx of hot money from the Pakistani hinterland could come at the cost of residents’.

 

One such example is exploitation of the Naltar Valley, which houses a ski training facility for the Pakistan Air Force. Because this Valley is taken over by the men in uniform, this area had unprecedented investment for new infrastructure and other facilities that the real rulers of Pakistan can enjoy their time here without any problems.

 

The local people are apprehensive about the designs of the Pakistani elite, and many have decided not to sell their land to ‘outsiders’. Alarm bells rang louder when they learnt that the ‘Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), a commercial arm of the military which dominates the region’s construction industry, recently attempted to seize more than 3,000 hectares of ancestral pastoral land on the pretext that it was needed for CPEC projects’.

 

Land is grabbed under various pretexts, including in the name of the CPEC. Hydropower plant in Hunza was also added to the list of the CPEC projects in Gilgit Baltistan. However, critics feel that this hydropower plant is built primarily to enhance the facilities of the Naltar Valley, which is taken over by the Pakistani elite.

 

After strong protests the huge land of 3,000 hectares was saved from the takeover, and on this Amjad Hussain, a leader of Pakistan People’s Party played a leading role. On this he said:

“Otherwise, all that Gilgit-Baltistan will get out of CPEC is traffic pollution,” he said. “Irrespective of which institution was involved, it was a land grab, plain and simple”. He further said:

 

“Nobody here has a problem if billions of dollars of CPEC projects are built in Pakistan, as long as it’s not at the cost of excluding Gilgit Baltistan, the gateway for the entire enterprise, or the property rights of the people,” Amjad Hussain said.

 

Business community of Gilgit Baltistan increasingly feels that the control of local economy and markets is fast going in hands of the Pakistanis, who have settled here, or travel from Kohistan. During our fact finding trip to the region in 2010, we were told by the local political activists that approximately 60% of the economy was in the hands of the non-local people. One can imagine what will be the situation in November 2020.

 

Representatives of the Gilgit Baltistan Contractors Association in a press conference in September 2020 were furious about ‘the military’s business monopoly of public works projects in the region’.

 

They said Frontier Works Organisation and its sister military business concerns were establishing a monopoly in the region by ensuring that even relatively small scale government projects are not given to the local contractors.

 

Many local people of Gilgit Baltistan feel that their region could become a battleground for a new round the great game. The region could be ‘sucked into a two-front war’. These people complain that they have been loyal to, but their ‘loyalty has not been reciprocated’.

 

On this issue, Akbar Hussain Akbar, Chief Spokesman of Imran Khan’s PTI in Gilgit-Baltistan said:

 

“The people of Gilgit-Baltistan feel that their loyalty has not been reciprocated because Pakistan’s establishment does not trust them, if people’s grievances are not addressed, the public blowback could be disastrous for Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan”.

 

People of Gilgit Baltistan and so called Azad Kashmir, don’t be under any illusions, if those who are Pakistanis are not getting their fundamental rights in Pakistan, you people will never be treated equally, and you and your future generations will regret on remaining silent on this crucial juncture in history of these regions.

 

Writer is a renowned writer and author of many books. He is also President Foreign Affairs Committee of UKPNP; and Chairman South Asia Watch, London.

Email: Drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com       Twitter:  @Drshabir