This huge territory, more than six times the size of so-called Azad Kashmir and part of the erstwhile princely state of J&K, was known as the Northern Frontier during British rule.
The tragic deaths of the ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway, and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, in a helicopter crash in Gilgit-Baltistan has drawn the world’s gaze to that remote, mountainous region. It was also in the news last month, when Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from Xinjiang to the Gwadar port. Much of the CPEC passes through Gilgit-Baltistan.
Though under Pakistani control, the region’s legal status remains ambiguous. It does not find mention in Pakistan’s constitution. It is not a province of Pakistan. In 1994, Pakistan’s supreme court said these areas “are part of Jammu and Kashmir state but are not part of ‘Azad Kashmir’”.
This huge territory, more than six times the size of so-called Azad Kashmir and part of the erstwhile princely state of J&K, was known as the Northern Frontier during British rule. It came under Pakistan’s control after November 4, 1947, when the British commander of Gilgit Scouts, Major William Alexander Brown, declared its accession to Pakistan. Brown, who was awarded the MBE and the Star of Pakistan, was an employee of the maharaja of Kashmir. In his book, The Gilgit Rebellion, he says, “as a liberal member of the world’s paragon of democracy, I considered that the whole of Kashmir, including Gilgit Province, [should] unquestionably go to Pakistan in view of the fact that the population was predominantly Muslim. Partisan, traitor, revolutionary, I may have been, but that evening my sentiments dictated that if the Maharaja acceded to India, then I would forego all the allegiance to him”. In April 1949, the region was dissociated from Pakistan-occupied Azad Kashmir, named the Northern Areas of Pakistan and placed under the direct control of a joint secretary in the federal ministry of Kashmir affairs and Northern Areas affairs.
Then in 1974, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto abrogated the State Subject Rule, the law that protected local demographic composition. As Sunnis streamed into Shia-dominated Gilgit-Baltistan, sectarian feuds were spawned. Under Zia-ul Haq, the Shia-Sunni and Shia-Nurbakshi riots broke out, allegedly staged with state connivance. Worse was to follow in May 1988, when tribal Lashkars, reportedly after receiving a nod from the establishment, abducted local women and massacred thousands of Shias in Gilgit.
In 2009, the Pakistan government promulgated the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order. Designed to create the impression of liberal self-rule, this executive order is another in the series of paradoxes that characterise Pakistan’s policy towards the region. Devoid of any constitutional authority, it provides for a 33-member Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly and a local administration headed by a chief minister. The real powers, however, continue to be vested in the Gilgit-Baltistan Council, headed by the Pakistani prime minister. All office bearers in Gilgit-Baltistan have to sign an oath …continued »
No comments:
Post a Comment