4 May 2015
Skardu-born rights activist Senge Hasnan Sering claims the native people of Gilgit-Baltistan are suffering rape, torture and economic exploitation at the hands of non-state actors from Pakistan, as well as China, which has been given free access to the region by Pakistan for mineral exploration.
People in Shia-dominated GB are staring at an impending ethnic cleansing by the joint efforts of Pakistan and China, he added.
Skardu-born rights activist Senge Hasnan Sering says Gilgit-Baltistan is suffering a "cultural assault"
GB is constitutionally and legally a part of India and part of Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, China has been given free access to the region by Pakistan to allow for the economic exploitation of the mineral-rich region, known for its gold reserves.
Unlike the rest of PoK, GB is ruled directly by Islamabad and has no local legislature of its own. The region’s citizens do not have any legal rights.
“We are under a silent invasion from China. We are staring at ethnic cleansing. Pakistan, since the late 1990s, has already affected the settlement of around 3.5lakh Urdu-speaking Sunni Muslims in GB which makes for nearly a fifth of the population now. They also run terror camps here. On the other hand, China is into a lot of projects here from mining to highway construction and a huge number of Chinese workers have also settled here,” said Sering.
“Anyone from China, who works here in any capacity, can be taken as a Chinese soldier as they are not simply workers but also members of the Communist Party. While China and many European and Asian countries mine minerals and get rich, locals have been legally prohibited from mining or to even get jobs,” he said.
Experts on GB agree with Sering.
“Pakistan has never been comfortable with GB as it is Shia-dominated. All factions against the Pak government have come to realise that hurting the Chinese is the surest way to hurt Pakistan. It is the reason why the Taliban has started hunting Chinese workers. In response to this, China has sent a large number of soldiers to protect its human assets in GB. These soldiers, as well as the fact that most of the workers are also from the Peoples Liberation Army, has not bode well for native people,” said Captain (retired) Alok Bansal, director of Centre for Security and Strategy, India Foundation.
While Mandarin or Chinese language and its script has been introduced as an optional language in schools in the region, there is a complete ban on the teaching of the native Balti language, which is similar to Tibetan.
“Such is the level of cultural assault on us that we cannot teach our children our own language. Balti is not an optional subject and not even the medium of instruction. This is pure cultural subversion under colonial occupation,” Sering said.
“People in GB hate Kashmiris and Separatists. They have had all the fun. They have enjoyed freedom and resources from India and we have been forgotten and left to the wolves. While they have a good time, we are suffering. We should be included in all discussions related to Kashmir because Ladakh and us make most of the state, while the Valley is a minority. The Indian state has forgotten us too. All we want is freedom from Pakistan and ultimately, sovereignty,” said Sering.
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