Gilgit Baltistan

EPAPER
LIVE TV
DAWNNEWS URDU
IMAGES
HERALD
AURORA
CITYFM89
TEELI
ADVERTISE
EVENTS
/SUPPLEMENTS
CLASSIFIEDS
OBITUARIES
DAWN.COM Logo
TODAY’S PAPER | OCTOBER 09, 2023
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
WORLD
CULTURE
PRISM
SPORT
MAGAZINES
TECH
VIDEOS
Search
SEARCH
Provincial status?
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry Published June 11, 2022 2
The writer, a former foreign secretary, is director general of the Institute
of Strategic Studies Islamabad, and author of Diplomatic Footprints.
FOR decades, the territories comprising Gilgit-Baltistan have remained
under the administrative control of the Pakistan government. Its
political destiny has been linked to the Kashmir dispute between India
and Pakistan. Pending a final settlement of the dispute, successive
Pakistani governments have focused on granting maximum possible
administrative autonomy to GB, whereas the people of GB have
consistently expressed their desire to join Pakistan as a regular
province.
Three developments in recent years kindled a ray of hope for the

people of GB. First, the GB committee set up by prime minister Nawaz
Sharif recommended in March 2017 that GB be accorded a status akin
to a Pakistani province. The provincial status was to be provisional so
that Pakistan’s principled position on the Kashmir dispute was not
undermined.
Second, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its judgement of January

2019, ordered conferral of constitutional status and rights to GB
residents at par with other citizens of Pakistan.
Third, the government of prime minister Imran Khan announced in

2020 its decision to grant provisional provincial status to GB. The people
of GB were excited at the prospect of finally fulfilling their aspirations of
joining Pakistan as a province of the country. However, despite the best
of intentions, the status quo could not be broken.
We shouldn’t adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach to GB.
The Kashmir dispute is an unfinished agenda of the partition of British

India. As per the provisions of the Independence Act, the Muslim
majority state of Jammu and Kashmir should have been a part of
Pakistan. However, India occupied the state pursuant to a controversial
instrument of accession. Pakistan does not regard that accession to be
legal and insists that the matter should have been referred to the
people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide if they wished to join Pakistan
or India.
The second legal basis for Pakistan’s stance is that under the UNSC
resolutions, there should be a plebiscite administered under UN
auspices to ascertain the wish of the Kashmiris. Regrettably, India has
refused to accord the people of occupied Kashmir their inalienable right
to self-determination provided for in the UNSC resolutions.
Meanwhile, the constitutional status of GB as a part of Pakistan has

remained in limbo. The prospects of India implementing the UNSC
resolutions are slim because it has leveraged its size, military muscle,
and economic weight to resist pressures from the international
community to grant Kashmiris the right to self-determine their destiny.
The emboldened Indian leadership has gone a step further and
embarked on demographic and electoral engineering to modify the very
identity of Kashmir. Under these circumstances, it is worth pondering
whether the status of GB should remain a victim of India’s intransigence
and unwillingness to follow international law.
Those arguing for integrating GB with Pakistan contend that the

suzerainty of the maharaja of Kashmir over the territories of GB was at
best notional. Further, the people of these territories had never
accepted Dogra rule, and in 1947, they wasted no time in pronouncing
their verdict to join Pakistan. The then Gilgit Agency, for instance,
formally acceded to Pakistan in November 1947, and the government of
Pakistan even appointed a political agent to take over in Gilgit.
Yet, it can be argued that integrating GB could have implications for

Pakistan’s legal position on the Kashmir dispute. So, it would be prudent
to keep the integration of GB with Pakistan provisional and subject to a
final settlement of the dispute. The moot point here is that the people
of GB have been living practically as Pakistanis for seven decades and
justifiably expect their rights as citizens of Pakistan formally recognised.
Further, to avert any misunderstanding, Pakistan would need to assure
the Kashmiri leadership on both sides of the LoC that granting full rights
of citizenship to the people of GB is an interim measure and without
prejudice to the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
What we cannot and should not do is to adopt a ‘wait and see

approach’. In the evolving regional geopolitics, GB not only provides the
vital geographical link to China but is also central to the implementation
of CPEC. Formal integration of GB into Pakistan will not only give full
constitutional protection to CPEC-related investments in GB but also
attract other international investments to GB, especially in the
hydropower sector. Lest we forget, there are forces at play to disrupt
China’s link with Pakistan through GB. It is, therefore, a strategic
imperative that GB be integrated with Pakistan as a provisional province
without further delay and its people be recognised as citizens of
Pakistan with full rights admissible under the Constitution of Pakistan.

of Strategic Studies Islamabad and the author of Diplomatic Footprints.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2022
2
Read more
Unlearnt lessons
Equitable mental healthcare
Future in jeopardy
On DawnNews
‫ آئی سی سی کی تصدیق‬،‫ زینب عباس نے بھارت چھوڑ دیا‬:2023 ‫ورلڈکپ‬
9 ‫مئی ہنگامہ ٓارائی کیسز کے تمام ملزمان کا ٹرائل جیل میں کرنے کا فیصلہ‬
)‫ صدیوں کی کتھا! (تیسری قسط‬:‫کراچی‬
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH
Top News Stories: 198 Palestinians Killed As Israel Responds To Hamas

Attack
Will PTI Be Allowed To Participate In Upcoming General Elections?
Pakistan Stands Firm on Evicting Illegal Immigrants, Including Afghan
Refugees
Top Stories: Medical Report Submitted To LHC Shows Nawaz Has
Residual Chest Pains
What Is The Ambit Of PECA Section 20?
Top News Stories: Almost 1,000 Killed As Israel Declares ‘Long War’
With Hamas
PTI Interviews Under Duress: Who Are They Trying To Fool?
Digital Payments Soar In Pakistan With 85% Dominance
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (2) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Just Saying
Jun 11, 2022 08:25am
I predict that people of GB will get their full rights soon!
Recommend 7
Karamat hussain
Jun 11, 2022 10:43pm
@Just Saying, ya
Recommend 0
Latest Stories
Real Madrid, Visit Dubai announce global partnership
Nobel economics prize goes to Claudia Goldin
PCB chief approaches foreign secretary over delays in fans, journalists’
Indian visas for World Cup
Pakistan condemns Indian minister’s ‘irresponsible, provocative’
remarks on ‘taking back Sindhu’
2 soldiers martyred, 5 terrorists killed in operation in Balochistan’s Zhob
district: ISPR
1,700 ‘illegal’ Afghan nationals arrested in Karachi so far: home minister
Dawn images site
Designer Hussain Rehar denies accusations of plagiarism by artist Alisha
Yazdani
Our picks for the best dressed stars at the Lux Style Awards 2023
Taylor Swift’s concert film makes $100m in advance sales worldwide
Most Popular
01
Surprise Hamas attack met with retaliatory air strikes from Israel
02
Protocol request for judge’s son recalled following outrage
03
Crackdown, rising rupee take sparkle off gold prices
04
Indian police on alert as threat email warns of blowing up stadium in
Ahmedabad during World Cup: report
05
Palestine at war
06
Standing out in the crowd — a Pakistani fan at India’s World Cup
07
World reacts to Hamas attack on Israel
08
Netanyahu tells Palestinians in Gaza to ‘leave now’ as almost 1,000
killed in Israel-Hamas conflict
09
Cartoon: 8 October, 2023
Must Read
Editorial: Sending Afghans back to an uncertain future defined by terror
and turmoil seems unnecessarily cold
UN agencies must work proactively with the Pakistani government to
find a quick solution to this issue.
Pakistan’s sedition law has far outlived the colonisers. It’s time to repeal
it once and for all
Momna Taufeeq | Umer A. Ranjha
The hybrid system is inherently unable to provide coherent and
effective governance
Which airlines have suspended Israel flights due to the Gaza conflict?
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
The lesson of the hybrid experience is that it is inherently unable to
provide coherent and effective governance.
Updated 09 Oct, 2023
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Sending hundreds of thousands of Afghans back to an uncertain future
defined by terror and turmoil seems unnecessarily cold.
Arrested growth
A STUDY recently published in the Lancet has painted a distressing
picture for our future generations. It finds that…
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
THE pulpit should echo the message of unity. But these megaphones
have delivered some triumphalist views of …
Palestine at war
The Israeli occupation needs to end, and the Palestinian people need
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
THE caretaker government’s decision to ‘hand over’ the loss-making
power distribution companies, or Discos, to…
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
FOR a country of over 240m people, it was appalling that Pakistan
realistically had just one solid contender for a…
‹
Pakistan shines on global innovation benchmark
›
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
CONTACT TERMS OF USE REPRODUCTION COPYRIGHTS CONTRIBUTION
GUIDELINES PRIVACY COMMENT MODERATION CODE OF ETHICS
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSPAPER ADVERTISE ON DAWN.COM SPONSORED
CONTENT CLASSIFIEDS OBITUARIES
PRAYER TIMINGS STOCK/FOREX/GOLD WEATHER
DAWN HERALD AURORA PRISM DAWN NEWS
IMAGES EOS/ICON/YOUNG WORLD CITYFM89 TEELI
Copyright © 2023, Dawn
Scribe Publishing Platform
Skip to content
Research Society of International Law | RSIL
Explore our Research
Publications
Research Publications
Law Review
Blogs
Law of Armed Conflict
Criminal Justice Reform & Capacity Building
Human Rights
RSIL Blog
Write for Us
Trainings
Podcasts
About
The Case of Gilgit Baltistan
The identity of Gilgit-Baltistan is historically linked to the long-standing
Kashmir issue and many commentators say that it has to be dealt with
in the same referendum. This article, on the other hand, intends to shed
light on relevant historical facts, revisit some agreements and cite some
authorities to advance the argument that the region of Gilgit-Baltistan
can be significantly separated from the issue of Kashmir. As a result, I
argue through this article that Gilgit Baltistan should be granted full-
fledged provincial status under the Constitution of Pakistan.
Historical Background
In order to understand why the two regions of Gilgit Baltistan and

Kashmir have been linked, it is necessary to look at its historical context.
The region came under the dominion of the Dogras (Kashmiri
Maharajas) and British rulers in the mid-nineteenth century after a
progression of conquests. The British administered the Gilgit Agency,
the centre of GB, under a lease agreement from 1935 which was
‘prematurely’ terminated by them in August 1947 in light of the end of
their rule over the Indian-subcontinent. The British administered only
the centre to keep an eye on the frontiers and mountainous areas,
which were vulnerable to Soviet invasion.[1] In August 1947, Maharajas
were able to regain control over the region. However, a domestic
paramilitary force, “Northern Areas Scouts,” led by Major Brown, the
British Commanding Officer,[2] rebelled against Dogra rule and ousted
the Maharajas, thereby declaring Gilgit-Baltistan an independent and a
sovereign region on 1 November 1947.[3] The “Scouts” became the
heroes of Jang Azadi-e-Gilgit because despite lacking a coherent
scheme and a native visionary leader,[4] they were able to overthrow
the regime, which existed for over a century. Consequently, the region
witnessed a bizarre power vacuum, so the independent leaders
established their own agency.
After 16 days of independent rule, they announced accession to the

State of Pakistan. It is interesting to note that no formal declaration was
made by the State of Pakistan, except entering into a treaty known as
‘The Karachi Agreement, 1948,’ which was signed by some executives of
Pakistan and the representatives of Kashmir. Surprisingly, there was no
representation from GB. Post-independence, various legal instruments
have been employed by Pakistan through executive authority, without
due representation from the region, to uphold its legitimacy. As a result,
it has developed a notion of “otherness” among locals, who have
started questioning their own political identity. With the inception of
modernity and globalization, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan lost their
traditional institutional ideologies and views of the world; nonetheless,
they felt alienated due to being unrepresented in mainstream Pakistani
institutions given the underlying political disconnect between the
region and Pakistan.[5]
Moving on, to understand the status of GB under international law we

need to delve into the Kashmir dispute. Both India and Pakistan have
competing claims over the entire state of Kashmir, which is populated
by people of diverse ethnicities and linguistic backgrounds. However, in
addition to the categorization of the whole region of Kashmir as a single
unit, India and Pakistan have “wedded” the identity of GB to Kashmir
which is problematic.[6] The more prominent discourse and scholarship
on the issue of Kashmir has always foreshadowed the struggles and
sufferings of the people of GB. Caylee Hong asserts that: “the
administrative arrangements, the political developments, the drawing
of boundaries in India and Pakistan, and the emergence of the Kashmir
issue on the international level pushed the region (GB) into a liminal
position.”[7]
Pakistan’s Governance of GB
At this point, it is essential to emphasize the steps taken by Pakistan to

protect the interests of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan without defeating
its position on Kashmir. A series of legal and political instruments have
been used by the country to uphold its authority over the region,[8]
including the pronouncement of the then Prime Minister to grant Gilgit-
Baltistan provisional provincial status. Several journalists argue that this
declaration was merely a bogus statement intended to make people
vote for the party ruling at the center in the GBA Elections 2020.[9]
Various others believe that he cannot decide upon an international
matter, and the statement was a response to India’s revocation of the
special status of Indian-occupied Kashmir. Meanwhile, the statement
has met fierce criticism and opposition from India and some Kashmiri
groups. Asma Lone, the author of the upcoming book, The Great Gilgit
Game, suggests that Mr. Khan alluded to the pronouncement being
within the confines of the UN resolutions. In her eyes, the Prime
Minister was pointing to part 2 of Article 3 of the UN Resolution of 13
August 1948, which clearly sets out that, “pending the decision on
Kashmir, the territory evacuated by the Pakistani troops (which includes
GB) will be administered by local authorities.”[10] In Pakistan’s legal
framework, this is an interim arrangement until the settlement of the
Kashmir dispute, and therefore, it is akin to empowering the local
legislature within the meaning of “local authorities” of the Resolution.
In addition, the PMLN-led Government established a special committee

under the leadership of Sartaj Aziz, the then advisor to the Executive
Head, to develop an action plan regarding the matter. After considering
the historical facts, the UN resolutions, and the Kashmir dispute, the
committee was of the view that GB may be merged into mainstream
Pakistan – having granted all the rights that a province is entitled to
under the Constitution.[11] However, no such policy was adopted, the
recommendations were kept confidential, and the report was consigned
to cold storage because, ostensibly, the State did not want to infuriate
India. Contrary to expectations, the then Government believed that
even the limited autonomy the region enjoys should be curtailed.
However, anticipating a colossal backlash, the leadership promulgated
the infamous ‘GB Order, 2018,’ and relegated the Gilgit-Baltistan Council
to a “toothless advisory body.” In essence, the region of Gilgit-Baltistan
became subject to “one-man rule” by the PM of Pakistan.[12] Moving
further, the judiciary of Pakistan also holds that the matter is to be dealt
with in accordance with the supreme law of the country, the
Constitution of Pakistan. In the landmark judgment of “Civil Aviation
Authority v. Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit Baltistan etc,”[13] the
seven-member bench of the Apex Court of Pakistan decided upon the
enforceability of fundamental rights and constitutionality of Gilgit-
Baltistan. Relying on a citation of an excerpt from the Fourth Year’s
Official Records of the Security Council, it was held by the judges that,
within the meaning of the undisputed note of the UNCIP, the
international law on Kashmir does not apply to the case of Gilgit-
Baltistan, which is a subject-matter of domestic law. The excerpt stated
that:
“… by January 1949, Pakistan undeniably held military control over the
Northern Areas; the area was administered by local authorities, not
those of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, with the assistance of
Pakistani officials …”[14]
In a subsequent case, headed by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr.

Saqib Nisar, the Court proposed Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2019, which
provides extensive autonomy to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, much like
that of other provinces.Additionally, the Court observed as follows:
“This Court has not hesitated in the past to give legal recognition to the
aspirations of people who have unhesitatingly, enthusiastically (and, if
we may put it like that, joyously) cast their lot with Pakistan right from
the beginning. We do not hesitate now to take the matter further.
Therefore, we do not just provide judicial imprimatur to the proposed
framework: we also give it permanence so that the people of GB have
unassailable confidence that their rights, and the enjoyment thereof, is
not subject to the whims and caprice of every passing majority, but are
firmly grounded in the Constitution itself.”[15]
Conclusion
To conclude, in light of the arguments raised, facts presented, and

authorities cited, I believe that Gilgit-Baltistan deserves to be the fifth
province of Pakistan considering the unconditional accession it
announced more than seven decades ago. Furthermore, it does not
affect Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir as it was an ‘independent’ and a
‘sovereign’ territory when it joined Pakistan – having dethroned the
Dogras. Henceforth, a mere constitutional amendment in Article 1 of
the Constitution by the Pakistan’s leadership would accord the millions
of people their right to identity and nationhood. Even if India argues
that it must be governed under international law on the ground that it
was governed by Kashmiris before independence, I believe the dispute
has reached a point where a permanent settlement of the conflict has
become inevitable to maintain global peace and preserve international
security – which is the object of international law. Lastly, by showing
great concern for granting peoples of the international community “the
right to self-determination,” under international law provides an
impetus towards the settlement of the dispute at hand accounting for
the best interests of the people of GB. Also, the Gilgit-Baltistan
Assembly has moved two separate resolutions to be declared a
province.[16] Moreover, Pakistan’s claim over the territory is reinforced
given the fact that ever since liberation, the region remained under the
direct administrative control of Pakistan. Therefore, the history, legal
and political instruments and international authorities are inclined to
elevate the status of Gilgit-Baltistan to a permanent and constitutional
province.
Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors. They do
not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Research Society of
International Law (RSIL), its editorial team, or its affiliated organizations.
Moreover, the articles are based upon information the authors consider
reliable, but neither RSIL nor its affiliates warrant its completeness or
accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such.
References
[1] Ali Usman, ‘Gilgit Ka Inqalab [The Revolution of Gilgit],’ Sang-e-Meel

Publications. Pakistan. 2012, p.51
[2] Major William Alexander Brown, ‘The Gilgit Rebellion 1947,’ Ibex
[1998].
[3] Martin Sökefeld, ‘Jang azadi: Perspectives on a Major Theme in

Northern Areas’ History,’ in Stellrecht (ed.), : The Past in the Present:
Horizons of Remembering in the Pakistan Himalaya. Köln, Köppe.
[1997], 66-67;
Ahmed Hasan Dani, ‘History of Northern Areas of Pakistan,’ Sang-e-

Meel Publications, Lahore [2007], 341-346.
[4]Aziz Ali Dad, ‘Boundaries and Identities: The Case of Gilgit-Baltistan,’

In: Crossroads Asia Working Paper Series, No. 34. [2016]
[5] Ibid.
[6] Hermann Kreutzmann, ‘Boundaries and Spaces in Gilgit-Baltistan in
Contemporary South Asia’, Routledge, London [2015]
Note: Prof. Hermann Kreutzmann, a German Geographer, has

investigated the boundaries of Gilgit-Baltistan in both pre-colonial and
post-colonial settings.
[7] Caylee Hong, ‘Law and Liminality in Gilgit-Baltistan: Managing

Natural Resources in Constitutional Limbo’ uses the concept of
“liminality” in an anthropological sense. I have relied upon it to argue
that the politico-legal transitions in recognizing different states of Gilgit-
Baltistan have its status ‘indeterminate’ and vague.
[8] The draconic Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which remained

effective after liberation; Northern Area Advisory Council (NAAC), 1969
with minimal powers for the locals; Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and
Self-Governance Order, 2009, an order which semi-autonomy to the
locals to govern the region; and the PMLN’s notorious The Gilgit-
Baltistan Order 2018, which provided significant powers to the local
authorities, however the absolute and ultimate power rested with the
Prime Minister of Pakistan.
[9] Shoukat Ali Kashmiri, ‘Granting provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan is

nothing but “lollipop”.’
[10] The UN Resolution of 13 August, 1948, article 3

[11] Afzal Shigri, ‘Constitutional rights denied,’ The DAWN (published on
04 Aug 2018)
[12] Ibid.
[13] Civil Aviation Case-2019
[14] ‘Gilgit-Baltistan and international law,’ The World Times (Published

in March 2019)
[15] Iftikhar A. Khan, ‘SC approves draft Gilgit-Baltistan governance

order,’ The DAWN (Published in January 18, 2019)
[16] Afzal Shigri, ‘Institute of Policy Studies’ Eighth Meeting on Kashmir.’

The Former IGP Sindh emphasized the importance of making Gilgit-
Baltistan the fifth province of Pakistan.
By Karim Ahmed
October 24, 2022
Share this post
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on WhatsApp
Share on LinkedIn
Author: Karim Ahmed

Karim belongs to Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan and completed his B.A-L.LB
(Hons.) from LUMS with distinction. He is interested in alternative
dispute resolution and has been actively leading various youth-led
organizations to bridge communities through accessible education,
youth activism and community service. Karim’s passion for law
originates from his late father, who was an accomplished lawyer and a
renowned bureaucrat.
Post navigation
PREVIOUS
Previous post:
Resolving the Greater Kashmir Issue by Employing Indigenous Means
NEXT
Next post:
The Gilgit Baltistan Constitutional Crisis
Related Posts
Policing Organized Crime: The Police Order (Amendment) Ordinance,

2023
October 4, 2023
A Child’s Right to the Environment – An Examination of CRC General

Comment No. 26
September 25, 2023
Chandrayaan and the need to Demilitarise Science in Pakistan

September 14, 2023
The Ultimate High Ground

September 13, 2023
Latest
Policing Organized Crime: The Police Order (Amendment) Ordinance,

2023
October 4, 2023
A Child’s Right to the Environment – An Examination of CRC General

Comment No. 26
September 25, 2023
Chandrayaan and the need to Demilitarise Science in Pakistan

September 14, 2023
The Ultimate High Ground
September 13, 2023
Azad Jammu & Kashmir and International Law

September 2, 2023
Azad Jammu & Kashmir Diaspora: Strength, challenges, and a way

forward
August 31, 2023
Recent Projects
RSIL Twitter
You currently have access to a subset of Twitter API v2 endpoints and
limited v1.1 endpoints (e.g. media post, oauth) only. If you need access
to this endpoint, you may need a different access level. You can learn
more here: https://developer.twitter.com/en/portal/product
Islamabad Office
House # 2-A, Main Embassy Road, Ata Turk Avenue, G-6/4, Islamabad,
Pakistan
Tel: 051 2831033, 8739300

Fax: 051 2831156, 8739400
info@rsilpak.org
Find us on:
Facebook page opens in new window
Twitter page opens in new window
YouTube page opens in new window
Linkedin page opens in new window
Lahore Office
212-L Block, Street 158, Phase 1, DHA Lahore
Tel: 042 37324148, 37356554
Fax: 042 37246393
info@rsilpak.org
Search
Search:
Type and hit enter …
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Email
Research Society of International Law © 2022 – All Rights Reserved
Go to Top
THE PULSE | POLITICS | SOUTH ASIA
Why Pakistan Should Grant De Facto Provincial Status to Gilgit-Baltistan
The region has long been in administrative limbo, to the detriment of its
people. Time to turn GB into Pakistan’s provisional fifth province.
By Sitara Noor
July 12, 2022
Why Pakistan Should Grant De Facto Provincial Status to Gilgit-Baltistan
Credit: Depositphotos
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Pakistan’s northern region, connects Pakistan with
China and is the starting point of the much-celebrated China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the Pakistani side. Although the region has
been under Pakistan’s administrative control for all practical purposes
since 1947, its constitutional status is in limbo due to its legal linkage
with the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute between India and
Pakistan.
Pakistan’s international position as of August 14, 1947, is that GB is part

of Kashmir, even though the people of the region considered
themselves distinct from Kashmiris at the time of Partition. In 1947, the
people of today’s GB rebelled against Dogra rule, driven by both anti-
India and anti-Kashmir sentiments. The region formally joined Pakistan
in 1948.
Pakistan’s decision to merge GB with Kashmir was based on the

presumption that it would help the country gain more votes in a
potential United Nations plebiscite on Kashmir. However, despite linking
GB with the Kashmir dispute, its administrative arrangements are
different from those of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) which has its own
constitution, whereas GB is administered by the center in Islamabad.
GB’s people are unanimous in their demand for constitutional rights, as

demonstrated by the joint resolution passed by its Legislative Assembly
demanding an interim provincial status. All major political parties in
Pakistan have upheld the shared common objective of giving
constitutional rights to the people of GB. Former Prime Minister Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto is credited with having abolished the draconian Frontier
Crimes Regulations (FCR), thereby ending local raja rule and forced
labor in the erstwhile Northern Areas. Later, the Pakistan Peoples Party
government under then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto introduced the
first party-based elections in 1994 and in 2009, under Yousaf Raza
Gillani, promulgated the GB Empowerment and Self-Governance Order
and also gave the current name to the region.
DIPLOMAT BRIEF
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch
across the Asia-Pacific.
GET THE NEWSLETTER

In 2015, the then-ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Committee on
Constitutional and Administrative Reforms, headed by Sartaj Aziz,
recommended giving the area “provisional provincial” status until the
final settlement of the Kashmir dispute. This was followed by a
landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in January 2019,
that ordered conferral of the legal status and constitutional rights to the
people.
Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access.
On November 1, 2020, then-Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his

government’s intention to grant this provisional provincial status,
making the region a de facto fifth province of Pakistan. The
announcement came after a high-profile meeting attended by both
government and opposition parties on the status of GB, which led to
the draft 26th amendment to the constitution. If passed by a two-thirds
majority in Parliament, the amendment would have awarded GB a
provisional provincial status without affecting Pakistan’s position on the
issue of Jammu and Kashmir, as per U.N. resolutions.
Now, with a new government at the the center, there is a risk that the
push for GB’s status may lose steam, with the leadership likely to
prioritize other urgent issues, such as the economy and energy crisis,
during their one-year term in office. However, since the issue of
granting provisional provincial status has received bipartisan support in
the past, the government may continue to push it forward with
incremental steps to sustain the momentum.
If the proposed constitutional amendment bill is passed by Parliament,

it will address some of the constitutional demands of the people of GB
and lead to three major changes. First, it will allow representation of
people from GB in Parliament. Second, the jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court of Pakistan may be extended to GB after the abolition of its
Supreme Appellate Court. Third, GB’s Election Commission will be
merged with the Election Commission of Pakistan. Provisional provincial
status may not address all concerns of the people, who are demanding
rights similar to other provinces such as transfer of administrative,
financial, and legislative powers as per the 18th amendment.
Nevertheless, it will be a concrete first step that will address the issue of
constitutional ambiguity in this region.
Any such move, however, is not without its challenges. On the

administrative front, while a lot of work has already been done, the
current Parliament does not have the two-thirds majority required to
pass the proposed 26th constitutional amendment. Additionally, given
the economic crisis, a holistic financial implication plan will have to be
made to assess the fiscal repercussions of this move. GB will have to
undertake their part of the bargain as well. In order to come under the
National Finance Commission (NFC) framework for resource
mobilization, GB will have to expand its own resource potential and will
have to come under the direct tax net.
There are some political challenges as well. Historically, any move in the
direction of granting GB provisional provincial status has always
received backlash from the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government,
which maintains that the former is part and parcel of Kashmir and any
change in its status will affect Pakistan’s case in the United Nations.
Therefore, it is important to take the entire Kashmiri leadership on both
sides of the Line of Control (LoC) into confidence. Lastly, granting de
facto provincial status is likely to receive a massive backlash from India,
which has repeatedly staked its claim over this territory and has
threatened to take it by force in the recent past.
The rightful demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan for constitutional

rights received great attention after India’s action on August 5, 2019,
when New Delhi revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and
stripped Indian-occupied Kashmir of its special status. The need for
constitutional amendments was also felt to protect the legal position of
the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through the
GB region. But, most importantly, provisional provincial status is needed
for the people of this region, who deserve and are demanding attention
and preservation of their fundamental rights.
You have read 3 of your 5 free articles this month.

Subscribe to
Diplomat All-Access
Enjoy full access to the website and get an automatic subscription to

our magazine with a Diplomat All-Access subscription.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Already a subscriber? Login here

AUTHORS
GUEST AUTHOR
Sitara Noor
Sitara Noor is senior researcher at the Centre for Aerospace & Security
Studies, Islamabad, Pakistan. Follow her on Twitter @NoorSitara
TAGS
The PulsePoliticsSouth AsiaPakistanGilgit-BaltistanGilgit-Baltistan
provinceIndia-Pakistan Kashmir disputePakistan 26th
amendmentPakistan Kashmir policy
RELATED
The Complex Calculus Behind Gilgit-Baltistan’s Provincial Upgrade
The Complex Calculus Behind Gilgit-Baltistan’s Provincial Upgrade
By SUDHA RAMACHANDRAN
Kashmir, India, and China: The creation of Pakistan’s newest province
will have far-flung geopolitical ripples.
Has Gilgit-Baltistan’s Election Made Pakistan’s Opposition Parties
Relevant Again?
Has Gilgit-Baltistan’s Election Made Pakistan’s Opposition Parties
Relevant Again?
By UMAIR JAMAL
The autonomous region is a powerful card in the hands of Pakistan’s
opposition as it pushes against the Imran Khan government and the
military establishment.
Will Pakistan’s Military Hold a Free and Fair Election in Gilgit-Baltistan?
Will Pakistan’s Military Hold a Free and Fair Election in Gilgit-Baltistan?
By UMAIR JAMAL
The November election in the disputed territory will be closely watched
in Pakistan and internationally.
Is Pakistan Losing Saudi Arabia?
Is Pakistan Losing Saudi Arabia?
By SUDHA RAMACHANDRAN
By attempting to arm-twist Riyadh on the Kashmir issue, Islamabad is
undermining relations with a long-time patron.
MOST READ
Long March 9 Rocket Will Be a Game-changer for China’s Space Program
Long March 9 Rocket Will Be a Game-changer for China’s Space Program
By NAMRATA GOSWAMI
China’s plan for a super heavy, reusable rocket has gotten far less
attention than SpaceX’s Starship, but will be equally important over the
long run.
The State of China’s Semiconductor Industry
The State of China’s Semiconductor Industry
By MERCY A. KUO
Insights from Douglas Fuller.
Hasina, Macron Seal Deal on Aircraft that Bangladesh Doesn’t Need,
Cannot Afford
Hasina, Macron Seal Deal on Aircraft that Bangladesh Doesn’t Need,
Cannot Afford
By ZIA HASSAN
The French PM secured a lucrative contract for Airbus. In return, his lips
will remain sealed on a likely undemocratic election.
China Boosts Semiconductor Subsidies as US Tightens Restrictions
China Boosts Semiconductor Subsidies as US Tightens Restrictions
By ARRIAN EBRAHIMI
Further U.S. restrictions on investments in China have spurred Beijing to
up the subsidy ante once again.
FEATURES
There Is No Consensus on American Decline in Beijing
There Is No Consensus on American Decline in Beijing
By DANIEL FU and ARRAN HOPE
It is inaccurate – and dangerous – to assume that Chinese policy elites
broadly perceive the U.S. to be in perpetual decline.
Sailing South: Taiwan’s Strategic Reimagining of Regional Ties
Sailing South: Taiwan’s Strategic Reimagining of Regional Ties
By ALAN H. YANG and SANA HASHMI
Taiwan’s relationships with Asian countries, despite their clear
importance, often receive limited attention.
Pakistan’s Never-ending Battle Against Terrorism
Pakistan’s Never-ending Battle Against Terrorism
By QURAT-UL-AIN SHABBIR and MONEEB MIR
Terrorist attacks will continue to plague the country unless the state
takes action against their common denominator: religious extremism.
Sailing the Seas of Economic Security
Sailing the Seas of Economic Security
By MATHIEU DUCHÂTEL
Unlike in Europe or the U.S., there is little debate in China about the
importance of “economic security” and the political tools necessary to
achieve it.
LATEST STORIES
Afghanistan’s Herat Hit by Deadliest Earthquake in Two Decades
Afghanistan’s Herat Hit by Deadliest Earthquake in Two Decades
By RIAZAT BUTT
Focused on Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians and wary of dealing
with the Taliban regime, only a handful of countries have offered
support.
How the Travis King Saga Relates to the North Korea-Russia Summit
How the Travis King Saga Relates to the North Korea-Russia Summit
By SEONG-HYON LEE
There are shifting dynamics in North Korea’s diplomatic strategy,
particularly concerning its relationships with the U.S. and Russia.
Centering Climate Change in the China-US Competition
Centering Climate Change in the China-US Competition
By MATT HOLBROOK
Climate change in the Indo-Pacific has a very real impact on the
outcome of any potential great power conflict within the region.
Thailand’s Mall Shooting Shows That Authorities Must Address Online
Black Markets
Thailand’s Mall Shooting Shows That Authorities Must Address Online
Black Markets
By MICHAEL PICARD
All over the world, a range of new, evolving technologies are disrupting
national arms control strategies. The Paragon mall shooting highlighted
the deadly results.
REGIONS
Central Asia
East Asia
Oceania
South Asia
Southeast Asia
TOPICS
Diplomacy
Economy
Environment
Opinion
Politics
Security
Society
BLOGS
ASEAN Beat
Asia Defense
China Power
Crossroads Asia
Flashpoints
Oceania
Pacific Money
The Debate
The Koreas
The Pulse
Tokyo Report
Trans-Pacific View
MORE
Features
Interviews
Photo Essays
Podcasts
Videos
ARCHIVES
A New Japan
By Other Means
APAC Insider
Asia Life
Asia Scope
China, What’s Next?
Indian Decade
James Holmes
New Emissary
New Leaders Forum
Sport & Culture
Tech Biz
Tokyo Notes
Zachary Keck
THE DIPLOMAT
About Us
Contact Us
Write for Us
Partners
Advertise
Syndicate
Privacy Policy
Newsletters
Subscriptions
MAGAZINE
Critical Minerals and the New Cold War
OCTOBER 2023
Critical Minerals and the New Cold War
© 2023 DIPLOMAT MEDIA INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Enraged people demand answers after a teacher is shot dead in broad

daylight!
Menu
PAMIR TIMES
Search for
Opinions
Gilgit Baltistan’s Provincial Status Conundrum
May 26, 2023 473 4 minutes read
Wazir Zafar Hassan
The debate on the provincial status of Gilgit Baltistan is not a new
phenomenon. Over time, the discourse has become a hot topic in the
mainstream media of GB. During elections, many parties use the same
narrative to get mass support. But after some time, the interest in the
matter fades without any outcomes.
Despite of the upsa nd down, the question remains. How long will this
question remain?
Before discussing whether it is possible to make Gilgit Baltistan the fifth

province of Pakistan, we need to understand the current constitutional
status and the minute history of Gilgit Baltistan.
At the present time, Gilgit Baltistan is a party to the Kashmir issue. GB

was not a part of Kashmir before Dogras. It has remained an
independent territory for centuries from Kashmir. The state of Jammu
and Kashmir, of which GB was made a part, was created in 1846 after
the signing of a treaty between the British and Gulab Singh of the Dogra
dynasty. In 1947 Col Hassan Khan, with the support of the people of
Gilgit Baltistan, stood and fought against Ghansara Singh, the governor
of Kashmir, who liberated Gilgit from Dogra rule and later the Baltistan
region after fighting a war of independence for a long year succeeded in
liberating the region. Since Gilgit Baltistan was composed of many
independent states, few decided to accede to Pakistan. However, the
letters of accession were not entertained, creating a distance situation.
On July 27, 1949, the Pakistan and Azad Kashmir government signed a
notorious Karachi agreement with zero representation of Gilgit
Baltistan. Sadly, the future of Gilgit Baltistan was decided without the
popular will of the people of Gilgit Baltistan. In the agreement, Gilgit
Baltistan was deliberately made a part of the Kashmir State, against
whom the people of GB fought a war of independence. This is how the
future of Gilgit Baltistan is now inclined to the solution to the Kashmir
conflict. The rationale behind the agreement was to get support for the
expected UN-prescribed plebiscite to get majority support. As the
majority of Gilgit Baltistan was more likely to vote in favor of Islamabad
in the plebiscite.
More than 70 years have passed, but the people of Gilgit Baltistan are
neither treated as complete Pakistani nor Kashmiri. The stance of the
state of Pakistan on Gilgit Baltistan is that the region is a part of
Kashmir, so its future will be decided in the light of recommendations
suggested by the UN. By maintaining such a strong position, talking
about making GB a full-fledged province of Pakistan seems just a
popular narrative.
Let’s come to the topic. To make Gilgit Baltistan the fifth province of
Pakistan, Gilgit Baltistan first needs to be declared independent of the
state of Jammu and Kashmir. What to do with the Karachi Agreement,
then? Will Azad Kashmir happily withdraw from Karachi Agreement?
Article 1 of Pakistan’s constitution describes the geography of Pakistan,
in which Gilgit Baltistan is shown as a part of Kashmir. Article 257
articulates about Kashmir, in which Gilgit Baltistan is also considered a
part of Kashmir. Can Pakistan amend articles 1 and 257 of the
constitution? A two-thirds majority in the parliament would be required
to make amendments, which seems unrealistic. If Pakistan decides to
make Gilgit Baltistan a fifth province, wouldn’t it be against Pakistan’s
official stance on the Kashmir issue? Can we expect a policy shift of the
state on the Kashmir issue?
In 1948 foreign minister Zafarullah Khan maintained the same stance

and declared Gilgit Baltistan as a part of Kashmir in the United Nations
assembly. Pakistan has repeatedly said she is an advocate of the
Kashmir cause. Pakistan will fight for Kashmir at every forum of the
world. Suppose the advocate (Pakistan) then makes Gilgit Baltistan a
part of Pakistan constitutionally. Then there arises a question, how
could an advocate make himself the owner of his client’s property? Can
we expect to win or lose the case, then?
Probably you must have heard about the abrogation of articles 370 and
35A by the Modi government. Do you know there was a law known as
State Subject Rule (SSR) in GB which was identical to article 35A that
the Modi government abrogated in 2018? The SSR was also abrogated
by the state of Pakistan in the 1970s. At that time, nobody cared
whether Gilgit Baltistan was part of Kashmir. Was the abrogation of
State Subject Rule in Gilgit Baltistan the right decision?
The making of Gilgit Baltistan a fifth province of Pakistan Is a tough

decision. Although, It’s not impossible, as I mentioned the possibilities
above. We must ponder whether the decision to make GB a province is
the only solution to all the glitches of the people of Gilgit Baltistan. If
yes, then why it took so much time, more than 70 years, to decide that?
Why always such news circulates near the election time in Gilgit
Baltistan? Why are there no representatives from Gilgit Baltistan to
decide our future?
The people of Gilgit Baltistan will only decide the fate of Gilgit Baltistan.
The people of GB simply demand if they are truly Pakistani, treat like
Pakistani in all domains. If they are a part of Kashmir, treat them like
Kashmiri and restore the State Subject Rule until a permanent solution
to the Kashmir issue. Despite going for provincial status, the State of
Pakistan should think for a mid-way solution like it is possible for the
state to give GB a Kashmir-like setup with little autonomy. The Gilgit
Baltistan Assembly which is a puppet and useless legislative body must
have supremacy in the true sense. Gilgit Baltistan should not be bound
to the decisions made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan because the
people of Gilgit Baltistan have no right to vote for the election that
elects the prime minister of Pakistan. All decisions about Gilgit Baltistan
must be made according to the determinations of the people of Gilgit
Baltistan.
Share this:
FacebookWhatsAppTwitterLinkedIn
Like this:
Related Articles
Social media is the fourth pillar of Gilgit-Baltistan

March 24, 2019
Women, Mental Health & Suicide in Gilgit-Baltistan

September 27, 2022
Malala Yousufzai; the inspiration

October 20, 2012
Climate change Induced Hazards: The case of Shishper Glacier in Hunza
May 28, 2022
Find us on Facebook
Follow Us
625K
20,917
Subscribers
573k
Fans
24,620
Followers
0
Subscribers
6,756
Followers
Recent Updates
Police Sub-Inspector shot dead in Buthrait village of Ghizer during raid
GB Government directs authorities to ensure law and order
63 development projects, costing almost 6bn rupees, approved
Enraged people demand answers after a teacher is shot dead in broad
daylight!
Ismaili CIVIC Pakistan and WWF-Pakistan sign MoU to Combat Climate
Change and Promote Environmental Conservation
Pamir Times is the pioneering community news and views portal of

Gilgit – Baltistan, Chitral, Kohistan and the surrounding mountain areas.
It is a voluntary, not-for-profit, non-partisan and independent venture
initiated by the youth.
Pamir Times is a member of

DigiMap Pakistan
© Copyright 2023, All Rights Reserved
Developed by: Qashqar | The Leading IT Company
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Consensus on GB’s provisional status as province
Amir Wasim Published September 22, 2020
19
The opposition parties had already warned the federal government
against any move to interfere in the elections in GB terming it a
sensitive matter. — File photo
ISLAMABAD: In a significant development amid political tensions in the
country, the government and the opposition almost reached a
consensus on granting “provisional provincial status” to strategically-
located Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) while agreeing to hold consultations on the
issue after the elections of its legislative assembly later this year, it
emerged on Monday.
According to sources, the government and the opposition had discussed

the move prior to the meeting of the political leadership with the army
chief.
The sources said the issue was discussed in a meeting between a

government team comprising Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi
and Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar with leader of the
opposition and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz
Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and PML-N’s secretary
general Ahsan Iqbal were also present in the meeting, which was held in
Islamabad a few weeks back.
Opposition says any move before election in the area will be considered
pre-poll rigging
When contacted, Mr Iqbal said the government had only informed

them that the plan was on its agenda, but no further discussions were
held on the issue.
Asked about his party position on the issue, the PML-N secretary
general said they believed the people of GB should have their
constitutional rights without affecting the country’s stance on the
Kashmir dispute and it was also mentioned in their party’s manifesto.
However, the elections on 24 general seats of the GB Legislative

Assembly, which were earlier scheduled for August 18, were postponed
due to Covid-19 situation. The five-year term of the previous assembly
had ended on June 24, bringing an end to the five-year rule of the PML-
N.
The opposition parties had already warned the federal government

against any move to interfere in the elections in GB terming it a
sensitive matter and the warning was also mentioned in the 26-point
declaration issued at the conclusion of the opposition’s Sept 20
multiparty conference.
Speaking at a news conference in July, PML-N leaders had stated that

any attempt to rig the GB elections would be against the national
interest and national security of the country. “The interest of Pakistan
lies in free, fair and transparent elections in GB. Pakistan cannot afford
to have any political controversy or dispute in GB which has already
become a flashpoint in the region and many countries are eyeing it to
get benefit,” he had stated before adding that he wanted to give a
message to the national institutions so that free, fair and transparent
elections were held in GB. “The federal government should refrain from
horse-trading and interference [in the polls],” he had remarked.
Mr Iqbal said GB had acquired great significance in the region due to

the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that was now a “jugular
vein” for the country. GB was a “sensitive area” and a flashpoint in the
region as the enemies were looking for excuses to spoil the law and
order situation.
Earlier when Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed claimed that the
leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) had assured Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen
Qamar Javed Bajwa in a recent meeting that they would support the
move to grant “provisional provincial status” to Gilgit-Baltistan, the
leaders of both the opposition parties said that an understanding had
been reached at the meeting that the issue would be taken up and
discussed after the elections in GB.
Talking to Dawn, the railways minister, who had divulged the details of
the meeting of the leaders of key political parties with the army chief,
said Gen Bajwa had left it on the country’s political leadership to decide
the timing of the implementation of the decision about change in the
GB’s constitutional status.
“It is up to you to decide whether you want to make it (GB) a province

after the elections or before the elections,” the railways minister quoted
the army chief as telling the political leadership including those of the
major opposition parties.
A senior opposition member, while talking to Dawn on condition of

anonymity, said the opposition had categorically told the government
and the army chief that any such move before the elections would be
considered a ‘pre-poll rigging’ and that they would also have to look
into its ramifications as it should not disturb the country’s stance on the
Kashmir dispute.
PPP vice president Sherry Rehman talking to a private TV channel said

changing the constitutional status of GB was a “sensitive matter” as
India always made Pakistan a target of criticism on the issue. She said
that in the meeting with the army chief, she had expressed her regret
that the meeting was not taking place at the Prime Minister House or
his chamber.
She recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had not even bothered to
attend a briefing on the Kashmir issue last year and the army chief had
himself then briefed them on the situation when the premier preferred
to stay in his adjacent chamber in the Parliament House instead of
attending the briefing that had been convened after the India’s
controversial act of changing the constitutional status of the Occupied
Kashmir through an amendment to their constitution in August last
year.
Ms Rehman said she had heard it on media that there was a move to
grant a provincial status to GB, which was wrong, as they had only
talked about granting it “provisional provincial status”.
Another key government minister, who is privy to the development,

told Dawn that it was on the request of the opposition parties that the
government had agreed to initiate the process of consultations on the
proposal to convert the GB into a province after the elections in the
area, as the opposition believed that if such a move was initiated now
then the PTI could take political advantage of it in the upcoming
elections.
“We could have taken advantage in the elections but this is not an issue
to do politics. This is a big decision having international ramifications
and we do not want to send a message that the nation is divided on it,”
the minister said, terming the opposition’s request “fair enough”.
Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2020

19
Read more
Political landscape of GB
PML-N warns govt against interfering in GB elections
Polls in GB
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

Top News Stories: 1,700 Illegal Afghan Nationals Arrested In Karachi
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (19) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Marquis de Sade
Sep 22, 2020 08:37am
Pressure from China?
Recommend 0
Nk
Sep 22, 2020 08:48am
Any move before election pre poll rigging? Hmmm, so anything that
improves the life of people of Pakistan is pre poll rigging! (if we loose
the election)
Recommend 1
Hindustani
Sep 22, 2020 09:22am
Stay away from GB. Don’t provoke Modi. IK once provoked Modi on J&K
and rest is history.
Recommend 0
READ ALL COMMENTS
Latest Stories
Opener Fakhar Zaman faces World Cup axe as Pakistan brace for Sri
Lanka challenge
New Zealand beat the Netherlands by 99 runs to stay perfect at World
Cup
remarks on ‘taking back’ Sindh
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
Kohli, Rahul guide nervy India to 6-wicket win over Australia
03
PPP raises level playing field issue with ‘quarters concerned’
04
Israel imposes total siege on Gaza, cuts off water supply as dozens more
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
Pakistan seeks Kabul’s consulate in Chaman to ease visa process
07
Prankster sparks security fear at India, Australia World Cup game
08
09
World Bank flags concerns over privatisation approach
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
GB Assembly unanimously adopts joint resolution demanding interim
provincial status
Jamil Nagri Published March 9, 2021
24
The resolution was passed by the house unanimously. — Photo
provided by author
The Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously
adopted a joint resolution demanding that Prime Minister Imran Khan
and state institutions grant the region provisional provincial status, and
provide it with representation in Parliament and other constitutional
bodies.
The resolution was jointly tabled by’GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid
Khan from the PTI, opposition leader Amjad Hussain Advocate from the
PPP, PML-N’s Ghulam Muhammad, MWM member Muhammad Kazim,
JUI-F’s Rehmat Khaliq and GB minister Raja Azam Khan.
The resolution stated that a bill to amend the Constitution to declare

GB a provisional province of Pakistan should be passed by Parliament
without causing any damage to the country’s stance on the Kashmir
issue.
This house reiterated that the people of GB will continue their moral
and political support to the people of occupied Kashmir in their
struggle. The resolution was passed by the house unanimously.
The GB Assembly secretariat also forwarded a copy of the resolution to

the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan said the GB Assembly

unanimously passed a historic resolution demanding provision of
constitutional rights to the region.
Thanking the opposition and the government members, he said: “The
demand for constitutional rights is a unanimous demand of the people
of GB, not that of an individual/ party. The unity we’ve shown on this
issue needs to be repeated again at a federal level.”
Terming the development a “historic day”, Minister for Science and

Technology Fawad Chaudhry said it was “truly a leap forward”. “Kudoos
[sic] to all who made it possible,” he said on Twitter.
In November last year, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan

Ali Amin Gandapur had announced that the federal government had
decided to elevate the status of GB to a province.
In December, Prime Minister Imran Khan constituted a 12-member

committee to make recommendations in this regard.
Gandapur heads the committee, which also comprises GB Chief

Minister Mohammad Khalid Khurshid, the attorney general of Pakistan,
federal secretaries for finance, defence, foreign affairs, parliamentary
affairs, GB chief secretary, joint secretary of the GB Council and
representatives of security agencies.
24
Read more
HISTORY: THE GILGIT-BALTISTAN CONUNDRUM
Parliamentary panel formed for GB reforms
Centre to grant status of province to GB: minister
On DawnNews
‫ نیئر بخاری‬،‫جنوری میں انتخابات نہ ہوئے تو پیپلزپارٹی سڑکوں پر نکلے گی‬
‫پاکستانی شائقین اور صحافیوں کے بھارت کے ویزے جاری نہ کرنے پر ٓائی سی سی کا‬
‫ردعمل‬
‫ قومی ٹیم کا جیت سے ٹورنامنٹ کا ٓاغاز‬:‫ء‬2023 ‫ورلڈکپ‬
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
PopularNewestOldest
DG
Mar 09, 2021 01:48pm
Well well well, excellent news as far as India is concerned!! Shuts down
so many doors for ‘Azad Kashmir’ arguments. This is a self-goal by
Pakistan as far as Indian diplomats are concerned.
Recommend 0
Goodboy
Mar 09, 2021 01:53pm
Will be rejected
Recommend 0
Abdul Majeed Sheikh
Mar 09, 2021 01:58pm
The loud and clear message to other provinces and the federation of
Pakistan, that the people of GB are not slaves to PTI, PML-N, PPP, JUI-F,
JI, MQM, and all the political parties that they are beyond in vision and
thinking, If other parties want it to repeat than IK in Federation, Punjab,
KPK and Balochistan and PPP in Sindh should shed their own style of
vengeance at least by PPP and PML-N they ruled this country, Punjab
and Sindh for more than three consecutive terms and results are known
Recommend 0
READ ALL COMMENTS
Latest Stories
Terrorist killed in gun battle with security forces in North Waziristan:
ISPR
Martinelli strikes late as Arsenal end City curse
Sub-inspector shot dead in Karachi’s SITE area for ‘resisting robbery’:
police
NIH says risk of Nipah virus in Pakistan ‘low’, urges vigilance at entry
points
Dawn images site
Going loco for local: Zaviha’s Mystic Blaze shows that perfumes don’t
have a gender
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
Editorial: It is Palestinians who will pay a heavy price even as Israel’s
friends trumpet its right to ‘self-defence’
justice.
Timeline of recent clashes between Israel and Palestine
Reuters
Reuters | AFP
The unbearable statelessness of being
Why TCF’s mentorship programme should be a model for schools across
Pakistan
Russell Dogra
Opinion
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
The ECP has been selective in the current delimitation exercise.
Fresh polls are the only remedy
Abbas Nasir
08 Oct, 2023
Mutual mistrust
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry
08 Oct, 2023
Monk à la mode
Muna Khan
Is Pakistan unusual?
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Editorial
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
National shame
Is the state comfortable with Pakistan being seen as a lawless land,
where people disappear and are arbitrarily punished?
07 Oct, 2023
Vexing taxes
A RECENT World Bank report update on Pakistan’s development
challenges has sparked considerable consternation …
07 Oct, 2023
Crippling disease
HOW unfortunate that just a day after the year’s second nationwide
polio campaign began, a third case was reported…
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Changing GB’s status

Editorial Published August 3, 2021
9
THE government’s plans to accord a provisional provincial status to
Gilgit-Baltistan are progressing steadily and the law ministry has
finalised the proposed legislation. As reported in this paper, the
proposed law that has already been submitted to Prime Minister Imran
Khan, will not affect Pakistan’s position on the issue of Jammu &
Kashmir as per the UN resolutions. The provisional status is meant to
signify that the final status of GB will be determined according to the
requirements of the UN resolutions. The draft of this constitutional
amendment bill proposes a provincial assembly for GB as well as
representation of people from GB in parliament in Islamabad. It also
proposes that the Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan may be abolished and
replaced with a high court, while the Supreme Appellate Court be either
abolished or re-established like the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu &
Kashmir. If it is abolished then the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of
Pakistan may be extended to GB. The Election Commission of Gilgit-
Baltistan will also be merged with the Election Commission of Pakistan
and its chairman will be made a member of the ECP if this constitutional
amendment is adopted.
This is a step in the right direction. The people of GB have argued for a
provisional provincial status for many years and in March this year the
Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly had passed a unanimous decision demanding
such a status. Governments in Pakistan have remained reluctant to give
this status for fear that such a step may have adverse repercussions for
Pakistan’s long-standing and principled position on the Kashmir issue.
However, it has now become clear that the wishes of the people of GB
must be respected and they be given greater representation and rights
to govern themselves. The strategic area has gained more importance
with the establishing of CPEC and there is a greater need than ever to
integrate it further into the mainstream.
Last year, all political parties were reported to have agreed to the
provisional provincial status after the GB elections. The proposed law
has been discussed with relevant people in GB as well as AJK. The
government should once again take the opposition into confidence
about this major move so that the amendment can be passed
unanimously. This issue should be above partisan politics and all
political stakeholders should take ownership of it. However, every care
must be taken to ensure that the text of the amendment is legally
watertight and does not in any way dilute Pakistan’s position on
Kashmir. It may therefore be prudent to have the law vetted by
international legal experts as well as diplomats who will be required to
defend it at foreign forums if a challenge does arise. The amendment
should also be debated thoroughly in parliament and at all public
forums before it is put to vote and adopted.
Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2021
9
Read more
Turned away
Arrested growth
Pulpit concerns
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (9) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Khaled
Aug 03, 2021 08:21am
Just wondering, how would the change in the status of GB, effect the
composition of parties strength in the senate?
Recommend 0
Ismailkhan20
Aug 03, 2021 09:20am
Give them 10-15 seats in National Assembly and at-least 5-8 seats in
senate, integration without representation makes no sense.
Recommend 1
Kris
Aug 03, 2021 09:34am
So are we going to see a new map?
Recommend 0
READ ALL COMMENTS
Latest Stories
Lanka challenge
Cup
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
EPAPER
LIVE TV
DAWNNEWS URDU
IMAGES
HERALD
AURORA
CITYFM89
TEELI
ADVERTISE
EVENTS
/SUPPLEMENTS
CLASSIFIEDS
OBITUARIES
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
WORLD
CULTURE
PRISM
SPORT
MAGAZINES
TECH
VIDEOS
Search
SEARCH
Listening to GB
Afzal Ali Shigri Published January 17, 2023 33
The writer, a former IGP Sindh, belongs to Gilgit-Baltistan.
LISTEN TO ARTICLE
1x
1.2x
1.5x
Local protesters have been peacefully demonstrating in Skardu for two
weeks, under the shadow of the fluttering green-and-white Pakistani
flag. All profess to be Pakistanis, and have Pakistani passports and ID
cards. Their elders liberated this region after an armed struggle with the
regular army of the Kashmir state.
Today, the protesters lobby for GB as a federating unit of Pakistan. Their

major demands include: integration of the region as a province thus
resolving its status as disputed territory; land ownership rights in the
liberated area; exemption from taxes without defined status; opening
the border with Kargil to facilitate cross-border interaction of divided
families; and restoring the wheat subsidy granted by the PPP
government in 1973.
Provincial status is key to settling all other demands. After acceding to
Pakistan in 1947, the trusting GB residents presumed that the
deputation of a semi-literate junior officer as political agent by the
Pakistani government signified acceptance of their request for
integration. However, the region’s fate was sealed by the Karachi
Agreement with Kashmiri leaders who consented to indefinite
bureaucratic control of GB without consulting the local leadership. And
yet, GB residents remained loyal.
For almost 25 years, the area was ruled under the black colonial FCR. In
the hope of creating support for a plebiscite, our foreign affairs czars
defined GB as a disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir. This twisted
narrative was used to legitimise the repressive GB administration in the
name of national interest.
The demand for rights is getting louder.
Education and awareness via social media have fuelled the demand for
resolving GB’s contested status. Civil society took its case to the
Supreme Court. After years of hearings, a landmark judgement in 2019
rescinded the Government of Gilgit Baltistan Order, 2018, in favour of a
newly agreed draft Gilgit-Baltistan Governance Reforms Order, 2019. On
the pretext of converting it into an act of parliament, the PML-N
continued to administer the area through the 2018 order, thus diluting
the powers delegated by the PPP under the 2009 law. The subsequent
PTI government also continued with the 2018 order, reneging on its
pledge to accord GB full provincial status and rights.
Impelled by public pressure and the verdict, the PTI government finally
launched a process to grant provisional provincial status to GB via a
constitutional amendment, ensuring its representation in parliament
and in all constitutional institutions.
However, ignoring the two earlier, unanimous resolutions of the GB

Provincial Legislative Assembly, the centre referred it to the local
government for endorsement, a ruse to stall the process. Unexpectedly,
the highly educated GB chief minister played along, referring the
reference to a committee of the local assembly, which delayed the
endorsement to protect their tenure for two more years in the local
assembly. Sadly, the CM chose opportunism over the chance to right a
historical wrong.
In rare concert, the PML-N federal government and the PTI GB

government proved to be complicit in trampling on GB residents’
constitutional rights. Despite a positive earlier record in supporting the
locals’ demand, the PPP has remained silent out of political expediency.
Such decisions by national parties compel a blind subservience from the
local leadership, causing the latter to be party to GB’s continuing
subjugation. Locked in squabbling, political parties are too distracted to
deliver on local electoral promises to resolve the issue of GB’s
fundamental rights. Thus, two million GB residents, who are proud to
call themselves Pakistanis, feel let down.
As the current local government is too impotent to address the issues of

constitutional and land ownership rights, taxation, wheat subsidy and
border management, the discontent engendered by an authoritarian
legal framework has ignited unprecedented protests.
GB’s residents cannot be denied the right to be integrated into Pakistan.

Nor can their status remain in limbo. They are justified in demanding
ownership rights to the land they liberated and in refusing to accept
laws/practices of the former Dogra occupiers. With reference to the
Kargil border management policy, the policies adopted in AJK, Punjab
and Sindh can easily be replicated in GB.
While the Indian media projects these peaceful protests as anti-

Pakistan, the high-flying Pakistani flag at the venue of the protest and
the desperate demand for integration remain unacknowledged. A word
to the powers that be: these protests must be shown on our national
media to dispel misgivings about the intentions of the protesters who
not only state but also truly believe that they are more ‘Pakistani than
Pakistanis’, a fact borne out by their record of loyalty to Pakistan.
The writer, a former I’P Sindh, belongs to Gilgit-Baltistan.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023
33
Read more
GB protests
GB chief minister blames centre for wheat crisis, other issues
PPP leader blames Imran, GB CM for ‘anti-state’ activities
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
PopularNewestOldest
M. Emad
Jan 17, 2023 08:09am
Anger, Rage & Explosive Outbursts ---- GB, Karachi, FATA &
Balochistan youths.
Recommend 137
Bupi
Jan 17, 2023 09:25am
Pak has ruined itself on name of Kashmir & even lost its eastern part
with birth of BANGLADESH WHOM whom western Pakistan considered
as secand class citizens & similarly today Punjabi’s consider other
provinces the similarly they considered East Pakistanis. All the parts is
so called Ajad Jammu Kashmir Gilgit Baltistan are as backward as they
were in 1947.
Recommend 87
Hasnain
Jan 17, 2023 09:34am
Balochistan was already in disharmony and now GB is becoming one.
Obviously given the geography, Pakistan officials cannot take the risk to
disintegrate GB. However these elites needs to come out of bubble and
solve every provinces issues, rather than Punjab only.
Recommend 57
READ ALL COMMENTS
Latest Stories
Lanka challenge
Cup
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
‹
Surge in Afghan transit cargo raises smuggling concerns
›
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Provincial status?
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry Published June 11, 2022
2
of Strategic Studies Islamabad, and author of Diplomatic Footprints.
FOR decades, the territories comprising Gilgit-Baltistan have remained
under the administrative control of the Pakistan government. Its
political destiny has been linked to the Kashmir dispute between India
and Pakistan. Pending a final settlement of the dispute, successive
Pakistani governments have focused on granting maximum possible
administrative autonomy to GB, whereas the people of GB have
consistently expressed their desire to join Pakistan as a regular
province.
Three developments in recent years kindled a ray of hope for the

people of GB. First, the GB committee set up by prime minister Nawaz
Sharif recommended in March 2017 that GB be accorded a status akin
to a Pakistani province. The provincial status was to be provisional so
that Pakistan’s principled position on the Kashmir dispute was not
undermined.
Second, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its judgement of January
2019, ordered conferral of constitutional status and rights to GB
residents at par with other citizens of Pakistan.
Third, the government of prime minister Imran Khan announced in

2020 its decision to grant provisional provincial status to GB. The people
of GB were excited at the prospect of finally fulfilling their aspirations of
joining Pakistan as a province of the country. However, despite the best
of intentions, the status quo could not be broken.
We shouldn’t adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach to GB.
The Kashmir dispute is an unfinished agenda of the partition of British

India. As per the provisions of the Independence Act, the Muslim
majority state of Jammu and Kashmir should have been a part of
Pakistan. However, India occupied the state pursuant to a controversial
instrument of accession. Pakistan does not regard that accession to be
legal and insists that the matter should have been referred to the
people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide if they wished to join Pakistan
or India.
The second legal basis for Pakistan’s stance is that under the UNSC
resolutions, there should be a plebiscite administered under UN
auspices to ascertain the wish of the Kashmiris. Regrettably, India has
refused to accord the people of occupied Kashmir their inalienable right
to self-determination provided for in the UNSC resolutions.
Meanwhile, the constitutional status of GB as a part of Pakistan has

remained in limbo. The prospects of India implementing the UNSC
resolutions are slim because it has leveraged its size, military muscle,
and economic weight to resist pressures from the international
community to grant Kashmiris the right to self-determine their destiny.
The emboldened Indian leadership has gone a step further and
embarked on demographic and electoral engineering to modify the very
identity of Kashmir. Under these circumstances, it is worth pondering
whether the status of GB should remain a victim of India’s intransigence
and unwillingness to follow international law.
Those arguing for integrating GB with Pakistan contend that the

suzerainty of the maharaja of Kashmir over the territories of GB was at
best notional. Further, the people of these territories had never
accepted Dogra rule, and in 1947, they wasted no time in pronouncing
their verdict to join Pakistan. The then Gilgit Agency, for instance,
formally acceded to Pakistan in November 1947, and the government of
Pakistan even appointed a political agent to take over in Gilgit.
Yet, it can be argued that integrating GB could have implications for

Pakistan’s legal position on the Kashmir dispute. So, it would be prudent
to keep the integration of GB with Pakistan provisional and subject to a
final settlement of the dispute. The moot point here is that the people
of GB have been living practically as Pakistanis for seven decades and
justifiably expect their rights as citizens of Pakistan formally recognised.
Further, to avert any misunderstanding, Pakistan would need to assure
the Kashmiri leadership on both sides of the LoC that granting full rights
of citizenship to the people of GB is an interim measure and without
prejudice to the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
What we cannot and should not do is to adopt a ‘wait and see

approach’. In the evolving regional geopolitics, GB not only provides the
vital geographical link to China but is also central to the implementation
of CPEC. Formal integration of GB into Pakistan will not only give full
constitutional protection to CPEC-related investments in GB but also
attract other international investments to GB, especially in the
hydropower sector. Lest we forget, there are forces at play to disrupt
China’s link with Pakistan through GB. It is, therefore, a strategic
imperative that GB be integrated with Pakistan as a provisional province
without further delay and its people be recognised as citizens of
Pakistan with full rights admissible under the Constitution of Pakistan.

of Strategic Studies Islamabad and the author of Diplomatic Footprints.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2022
2
Read more
Unlearnt lessons
Future in jeopardy
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (2) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Just Saying
Jun 11, 2022 08:25am
I predict that people of GB will get their full rights soon!
Recommend 7
Karamat hussain
Jun 11, 2022 10:43pm
@Just Saying, ya
Recommend 0
Latest Stories
Lanka challenge
Cup
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
GB: a lost opportunity
Afzal Ali Shigri Published May 23, 2022
3
SUBSEQUENT to their liberation from Dogra rule, the people of Gilgit-
Baltistan unconditionally joined Pakistan. However, based on a
controversial agreement with the Kashmiri leadership, the government
of Pakistan linked the accession of GB with the Kashmir dispute and
governed the area through a bureaucratic arrangement that excluded
the locals. The unilateral declaration of GB as disputed territory not only
violated the residents’ fundamental rights but also disregarded the UN
resolution mandating control of the disputed territories via self-rule for
routine governance.
Read: GB Assembly demands provincial status for region
Under the impetus of popular demand for constitutional rights, the

participation in government through executive orders was granted until
a Supreme Court verdict led to the creation of a representative
assembly invested with limited powers.
Due to growing demands for integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan,
and two earlier unanimous local assembly resolutions for absorbing GB
as a federating unit in Pakistan, leading political parties, including the
two major parties in the present coalition, scrambled to promise
provincial status to the area ahead of fresh elections to the GB
Assembly.
In response to an earlier petition, the honourable Supreme Court had

already passed a landmark judgement in January 2019, ordering the
conferral of constitutional status and rights on GB’s residents on a par
with other citizens of Pakistan. To indicate its compliance, the PTI
government even agreed on a draft law, submitting it to court for
immediate implementation. But then the PTI government chose to
execute a U-turn and file a petition for revising the judgement. This
ruinous petition effectively stonewalled the matter. However, facing
political pressure, the PTI government then initiated action to grant GB
provisional provincial status as recommended by the Sartaj Aziz Report
commissioned by the earlier PML-N government. This also aligned with
the aspirations of GB residents as reflected clearly in the resolutions of
the local elected assembly.
Despite all promises, little progress has been made on a provincial

status for Gilgit-Baltistan.
The expectation was that PTI would immediately move a bill for
constitutional amendment, thus enabling the provisional integration of
GB as a province until the resolution of the Kashmir issue. However, the
PTI again chose to procrastinate, and in lieu of legislation sent the
proposed draft constitutional amendment to the GB government for
endorsement despite pre-existing GB Assembly resolutions endorsing
the desire for provisional provincial status. This uncalled-for process
wasted valuable time and deferred the introduction of the
constitutional amendment bill.
Read: GB as a province?
GB’s chief minister appreciated the significance of the proposed

integration of the region in the federation with representation in
parliament and in all statutory forums as a federating unit. This was
however undermined by the party’s own local chapter. Unfortunately,
the chief minister could not resist their pressure and formed a
transitional committee to review the amendment. He failed to
anticipate the response of his party members, blinded by their petty
and selfish political interests. From the start, the members of the
assembly nominated to this committee have wanted to thwart the
acceptance of the proposed constitutional package, unless their
egoistical interests were safeguarded.
It was beyond their vision to be part of “a landmark achievement and

the highest watermark for the people of GB since their accession to
Pakistan”. They could not comprehend that its implementation would
“go a long way in appropriately realising the objectives of the entire
exercise for the benefit of the people of GB in particular, and Pakistan in
general”.
Instead of looking at the big picture and understanding the implications

of GB acquiring the status of a province with all its attendant privileges,
rights and responsibilities, they advanced caveats on minor issues
falling within the normal legal structure of the country. Their major
demands are summarised here:
— Insertion of special provision for tax exemption in the Constitution

for the region refusing to accept the applicability of tax laws for
such concessions.
— Protection of tenure of the present assembly created under an

executive order by the president after integration of the region as
a province. (Strangely, the members wanted automatic protection
of their tenure, also desiring this assembly to elect the
constitutionally created Senate members. Unfortunately, they
failed to understand the legal impossibility of providing a
legitimate arrangement of this nature.)
— Constitutional protection to subsidies granted through

administrative orders and normal laws, and service issues and
other financial matters, ignoring the fact that provincial status
would inevitably confer enhanced legislative powers on GB, thus
enabling the provincial government to address most of these
matters. Representation in parliament was key to taking up any
matter provided within the ambit of the federal laws.
A constitutional amendment for provincial status is not a governance

order. Rather, it is a binding legal structure ensuring fundamental rights
equal to those granted to other citizens of Pakistan, including
representation in the highest legislative institution, participation in all
statutory bodies where important decisions are taken for the region and
protection of an independent legal structure under the Supreme Court
of Pakistan. All governance matters such as taxation, service matters
and subsidies can be addressed by the elected regional representatives
to parliament, and, for most, under the 18th Amendment. The
federating unit is the final authority on most important matters.
Read: ‘Almost’ Pakistan: Gilgit-Baltistan in a constitutional limbo
The status of a province with representation in parliament not only

creates a legal linkage between GB and the federation but also excises
all impediments for local and international investments, thus lending
new impetus to CPEC in the region. CPEC will catalyse economic
development, alleviate poverty and generate employment
opportunities in the region. The harnessing of its natural resources,
particularly hydropower, has the potential to transform GB into a
powerhouse for the entire country, thus ensuring affordable and clean
energy and resultant prosperity for Pakistan.
The coalition government should tak” up this legislation on a priority
basis and not hunker down for the inevitable but avoidable protests in
this sensitive region which are likely to ensue if a game of wait-and-see
is played. People are losing their patience with several unfulfilled
pledges. Decisive action is good not only for GB but also for Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2022
3
Read more
Unlearnt lessons
Future in jeopardy
On DawnNews
‫ردعمل‬
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (3) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Imran khan (Mardan) KPK
May 23, 2022 01:39pm
Free GB and Kashmir to be independent of Pakistan so they can solve
their own problems.
Recommend 98
Isolationist
May 23, 2022 02:25pm
@Imran khan (Mardan) KPK, if this is the case then why the people of
GB fight Dogras to liberate themselves and acceded to Pakistan.
Kashmir issue and GB rights are different matters which have been
unilaterally converged into one by the state of Pakistan.
Recommend 19
Cardiac Arrest
May 23, 2022 07:01pm
GB was part of 1947 J&K. It is occupied by Pakistan because the state
joined India. That is a fact.
Recommend 120
Latest Stories
Rescuers search for survivors days after deadly quakes hit northwest
Afghanistan
Switching from internal combustion engines to EVs would considerably
impact crude demand
More than 123,000 people displaced in Gaza Strip, says UN as Israel
continues bombardment
Parliament shouldn’t be hampered from doing good just because it
lacks two thirds-majority, CJP remarks
Tormented by wait for Indian visa, Pakistani cricket fans cling to hope
The inflation conundrum
Dawn images site
have a gender
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Tormented by wait for Indian visa, Pakistani cricket fans cling to hope
The saga of grey food trade
Nasir Jamal
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Road to a province
Sajjad Ahmad Published March 13, 2022
1
The writer is lecturer at the School of Economics and Social Sciences,
IBA Karachi.
THE issue of Gilgit-Baltistan’s political status and its merger with
Pakistan is once again a part of active discussions, as it has been,
periodically, over the past two years. It picked up pace after Prime
Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Gilgit in November 2020 on the
anniversary of GB’s independence from Dogra rule. The PM announced
a provisional provincial status for GB. The following month, he
constituted a 12-member committee to give recommendations for GB’s
future status. The federal law ministry prepared a draft constitutional
amendment proposing a provincial assembly for GB, representation in
the national legislature, replacing the Chief Court with a high court and
extending the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to GB.
Last month, four Balochistan Awami Party senators dramatically

submitted a private member’s bill to the Senate Secretariat seeking a
provisional constitutional status for GB at a time when a parliamentary
committee comprising GB lawmakers was already working on a
transitional plan and on suggestions for constitutional amendments.
The bill was an embarrassment for the PTI government which appeared
unaware of the move although the BAP is a PTI ally. There was a swift
backlash from GB’s lawmakers and the public. The bill suggested an
amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution, a long-standing demand of
the people but GB Assembly members condemned the move and a GB
parliamentary committee rejected the document as it was prepared
without consulting the relevant stakeholders. A communique called for
stopping work on the status of a provisional province until the bill was
withdrawn.
The GB diaspora settled In urban areas in the country also reacted.

Awareness seminars, students’ study circles and discussions were
organised in different cities. Many young people used social media to
express their concerns. Although various circles and some of GB’s
leaders were already critical of the provisional province status, the BAP
catalysed the debate on the provisional province.
The crisis of GB’s future status must be addressed by the centre.
GB’s nationalist leader and elected assembly member from Ghizer,

Nawaz Khan Naji, termed the provisional province as closer to a KP
district. Naji’s statement takes us back to the late 1940s when Gilgit,
after its independence, was brought into the administrative structure of
the then NWFP by the government of Pakistan, the Frontier Crimes
Regulation was imposed and a political agent was sent to Gilgit with
administrative, judicial and legislative powers. Zafar Iqbal in his book
Gilgit-Baltistan in Constitutional Limbo writes about a proposal sent to
Pakistan’s foreign ministry by Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, then NWFP
chief minister, to bring Gilgit Agency under the NWFP administration.
Since Pakistan wanted to secure GB’s vote bank in anticipation of a
possible UN plebiscite, it maintained GB as part of the maharaja’s state
of Jammu and Kashmir and hence this proposal was rejected by the
Foreign Office.
GB’s intelligentsia is questioning the legitimacy of a provisional province

on the pretext of GB being a disputed territory. Their arguments stem
from apprehensions that the state might be trying to exploit the area’s
resources including land, minerals etc. due to the absence of an
empowered local assembly. There is an inferred fear of demographic
changes. There are also questions about whether the GB Assembly
would have enough legislative powers, autonomy and rights over GB’s
resources and whether the new set-up would recognise the distinct
identity of GB, grant representation to it in the NFC Award, continue the
wheat subsidy and provide socioeconomic guarantees.
These concerns need to be addressed by the government of Pakistan

prudently. Although the mainstream political parties of GB appear to be
in favour of a provisional province, the proposed amendments should
be debated in the GB Assembly. Making it public, and evaluating the
merits and demerits while taking major stakeholders including the
nationalist parties on board, would be pivotal in gaining the public’s
trust.
It seems that the GB parliamentary committee and federal officials are

part of the consultation process and working for constitutional redress.
Merely giving seats in the National Assembly and Senate won’t be
enough. It was in the 2020 GB election that the slogan ‘haq-i-hakimiyat’
and ‘haq-i-milkiyat’, right to rule and right to ownership, became
popular. It is possible that the proposed amendments may not be
directed at Article 1 of the Constitution as that would compromise
Pakistan’s position on Kashmir. However, the demand of transferring
internal autonomy and legislative powers to the GB Assembly are in the
light of the UNSC resolutions on Kashmir. With growing awareness in GB
regarding autonomy and political rights, it is imperative that the
Pakistani government take wise steps in determining the future status
of GB.
The writer Is lecturer at the School of Economics and Social Sciences,

IBA Karachi.
Twitter: @saj_ahmd
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2022
1
Read more
Unlearnt lessons
Future in jeopardy
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (1) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Jalal
Mar 14, 2022 05:16pm
Well Said
Recommend 1
Latest Stories
remarks on ‘taking back Sindhu’
2 soldiers martyred, 5 terrorists killed in operation in Balochistan’s Zhob
district: ISPR
1,700 ‘illegal’ Afghan nationals arrested in Karachi so far: home minister
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Procrastination
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry Published March 25, 2023
0
The writer is a former foreign secretary and author of Diplomatic
Footprints.
1x
1.2x
1.5x
THERE appears to be a general consensus in Pakistan, across the
political divide, that Gilgit-Baltistan be integrated as a provisional
province. The GB committee set up by prime minister Nawaz Sharif
recommended in March 2017 that GB be accorded a status akin to a
province of Pakistan.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its judgement of January 2019,

ordered the conferral of constitutional status and rights on GB residents
at par with other citizens of Pakistan. The government of prime minister
Imran Khan announced in November 2020 its decision to grant
provisional provincial status to GB.
Yet, the people of GB have not been conferred this status of being de
jure citizens of Pakistan. They have repeatedly expressed, through
resolutions of the GB Assembly, their desire to formally join Pakistan as
a province. Pending integration, they have also demanded internal
autonomy.
One might argue that the reason for this procrastination has been
because of possible implications for Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir
dispute. Since the Kashmir dispute has not been settled either in
accordance with the provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947
or the provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions, GB’s
constitutional status remains in limbo.
The people of GB are disappointed that successive Pakistan
governments have focused more on governance and development-
related issues, rather than finding ways to recognise the people of GB as
full-fledged citizens of Pakistan.
Was it wise to deny the people of GB their desire all these years?
We must seriously ask ourselves whether denying the people of GB

their wish to join Pakistan has been a wise course of action all these
years. A strong legal, political and strategic argument can be made that
further delay on this issue won’t serve our national interests.
Firstly, several territories within GB did not fall under the suzerainty of
the maharaja of Kashmir and the people of these territories had already
decided to join Pakistan. Gilgit, for instance, formally acceded to
Pakistan in November 1947. The government of Pakistan even
appointed a political agent there. Likewise, for some other territories,
original accession papers were handed over to the then president of
Pakistan by the wife of Major Brown, who was commanding the Gilgit
Scouts. This was reported in this paper in 2002.
Secondly, integrating GB into Pakistan would have no implications for

the country’s legal position on the Kashmir dispute because the
integration would be provisional and conditional to the final settlement
of the Kashmir dispute. It is akin to the provision inserted in the
Pakistan-China Border Agreement of 1963, which provided for the
finalisation of the border subject to the settlement of the Kashmir
dispute. This proviso would keep open the option of AJK and even the
Kashmir Valley to join Pakistan if they so determine, and when
circumstances permit.
However, facts on the ground suggest that the prospects of

implementing the UNSC resolutions remain dim because India is not
ready to hold the plebiscite, nor is the world willing to pressure it to
implement the UNSC resolutions. India has also stonewalled bilateral
efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute. The Modi government has lately
embarked on the project of changing the Muslim majority status of held
Kashmir through demographic and electoral engineering. A wait-and-
see approach is not advisable in the face of these fast-evolving ground
realities.
Integrating GB would also effectively blunt the Indian argument that

GB’s link with Pakistan is ambiguous because it finds no mention in the
Constitution.
Thirdly, procrastination might constitute a strategic blunder in the

context of the evolving regional geopolitics. GB is the only geographical
link we have with China. There is a convergence of interests between
India and a major power that is currently in competition with China, and
this nexus would not mind disrupting China’s link with Pakistan through
GB. A case in point is CPEC.
GB is central to CPEC. We need GB as an integral part of Pakistan to give
full constitutional protection to CPEC investments in GB as well as to
attract international investments into GB, which require sovereign
guarantees. Given the recent rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and
Iran, brokered by China, economic and commercial activity in this region
is likely to grow. One should be ready when these opportunities arise.
All said and done, the moot point is the will of the people of GB, who
have been living side by side with Pakistanis for seven decades without
getting their constitutional rights as citizens of Pakistan. In geopolitics as
in national affairs, time is of the essence. Let there be no doubt that
further procrastination on integration might be our cost to bear.
The writer Is a former foreign secretary and author of Diplomatic

Footprints.
Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2023
0
Read more
Top court’s powers extended to Gilgit-Baltistan, rules Supreme Court
GB: a lost opportunity
Bureaucracy’s rule
On DawnNews
‫ردعمل‬
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will
return soon.
Latest Stories
Hong Kong raises warning for typhoon, closes schools
Opec leaders make case for fossil fuels at climate event
Russia eyes return to UN rights body despite Ukraine war
Terrorist killed in gun battle with security forces in North Waziristan:
ISPR
Martinelli strikes late as Arsenal end City curse
Dawn images site
have a gender
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
Editorial: It is Palestinians who will pay a heavy price even as Israel’s
friends trumpet its right to ‘self-defence’
justice.
Timeline of recent clashes between Israel and Palestine
Reuters
Reuters | AFP
The unbearable statelessness of being
Why TCF’s mentorship programme should be a model for schools across
Pakistan
Russell Dogra
Opinion
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
The ECP has been selective in the current delimitation exercise.
Fresh polls are the only remedy
Abbas Nasir
08 Oct, 2023
Mutual mistrust
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry
08 Oct, 2023
Monk à la mode
Muna Khan
Is Pakistan unusual?
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Editorial
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
National shame
Is the state comfortable with Pakistan being seen as a lawless land,
where people disappear and are arbitrarily punished?
07 Oct, 2023
Vexing taxes
A RECENT World Bank report update on Pakistan’s development
challenges has sparked considerable consternation …
07 Oct, 2023
Crippling disease
HOW unfortunate that just a day after the year’s second nationwide
polio campaign began, a third case was reported…
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
GB protests
Editorial Published January 9, 2023
4
1x
1.2x
1.5x
MASSIVE protests held across Gilgit-Baltistan over the past several days
have united the region’s geographically and religiously diverse
communities, as well as supporters of different political parties.
Moreover, traders’ bodies in the northern region have also backed the
demonstrations. GB’s people have taken to the streets in freezing
temperatures for a raft of reasons, which include questions about land
rights, taxation, extensive power cuts as well as a reduction in the
amount of subsidised wheat the centre provides the region. The fact is
that GB’s residents are protesting about many of the same things
people in other parts of Pakistan also raise their voices against.
However, GB’s ambiguous constitutional status, as well as the lack of
infrastructure compared to the rest of the country, makes this region’s
plight unique. The protesters are not in favour of the GB Revenue
Authority Bill, which was passed by the region’s assembly last year, as
they say it imposes additional taxes on the region without giving it any
representation in the federation. Moreover, the locals also have serious
reservations about the state taking over land in the region that they say
belongs to the people. The state has been acquiring land in GB for CPEC
as well as other projects.
Considering that the people of GB have united over these issues, the
state has to engage with them, listen to their concerns and arrive at
mutually agreed solutions. Ramming ‘solutions’ down the people’s
throats will only aggravate matters. The local people have a valid point
where it comes to additional taxation. If the state is extracting revenue
from the region, then it also has a responsibility to provide elected
representation for GB in parliament. Of course, the constitutional status
of the region has been kept vague due to the Kashmir dispute, but as
has been argued in the past, a provisional provincial status can be
considered for GB until that imbroglio is resolved. Coming to the land
issue, this is a very sensitive matter and only through engaging with the
local people politically can it be resolved amicably. While the state has a
right to acquire land it feels is essential in the national interest, the
people need to be taken on board and compensated accordingly, and
no forced takeovers of land should take place. It is hoped that
representatives of the government engage with the people of GB and
resolve these issues in a democratic fashion.
Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2023
4
Read more
Turned away
Arrested growth
Pulpit concerns
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
Comments (4) Closed
PopularNewestOldest
Saiba
Jan 09, 2023 11:59am
The government have no right to took the land of innocent people of gb
without their concerns
Recommend 17
Nihaan Ali
Jan 09, 2023 01:39pm
The government is taking benefits from every sector of GB from
CPEC,Tourism to Minerals without providing basic rights to natives .
Recommend 19
Doc
Jan 09, 2023 02:22pm
IOK is peaceful . all amenities cheap food good roads full
power ,universities college all working .
Recommend 28
READ ALL COMMENTS
Latest Stories
Lanka challenge
Cup
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Misuse of legal process
Afzal Ali Shigri Published September 8, 2023
0
The writer, a former IGP, Sindh, belongs to Gilgit-Baltistan.
1x
1.2x
1.5x
AT the time of partition, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan rose in revolt
against the Dogra rulers, and with the support of the Gilgit Scouts,
fought the regular army of the Kashmir state.
However, due to a ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India, the

aspiration for the liberation of Kargil remained unfulfilled as it came
under Indian control. The 1971 war with India resulted in the loss of the
Nubra Valley, and through the Shimla Agreement that followed, the
disputed territory remained under India.
Due to the repressive rule in GB, many people had previously migrated
to other parts of India, including Shimla, Mussoorie and Dalhousie.
These migrants advocated vociferously for Pakistan. Despite their
established lives, they migrated to Pakistan as refugees, leaving
everything behind.
The people of GB had faith in Pakistan’s leadership, and believed they

had realised their dream of becoming citizens of the nation. They were
unaware that Kashmiri leaders, under the Karachi Agreement, had
abandoned them to bureaucratic governance, an arrangement that
stripped them of their constitutional rights and left their status
undefined.
With education, the population soon realised they had been deceived
and left to dwell in a state of constitutional uncertainty. It wasn’t until
2009 that a governance decree was finally promulgated by the PPP
government giving them some semblance of provincial status with an
elected legislative assembly.
Amidst the ongoing political acrimony, the predicament of the people of

GB has been overlooked.
Thanks to NGOs like the Aga Khan Foundation and the Marafie
Foundation, the region experienced a notable surge in educational
attainment. This education-driven transformation prompted the
emerging generation to demand their integration into Pakistan. A
petition was filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The government of Pakistan contested the jurisdiction of the Supreme

Court, asserting that the region wasn’t an integral part of the country.
Nevertheless, the court’s authority was upheld.
In a landmark ruling in 2019, the Supreme Court examined all legal

dimensions of the case to determine the parameters for governing the
region. It recognised that the ongoing dispute couldn’t serve as a
pretext to deprive the people of GB of their fundamental rights. This
ruling resolutely affirmed that the pursuit of a resolution to the dispute
could not come at the expense of basic human rights.
The court Invalidated the 2018 order issued by PML-N government,

which had further curtailed already restricted empowerment under the
2009 order. Subsequently, the PTI government embraced a revised
governance order that was meticulously crafted by the attorney
general, in accordance with the court’s directives. This revised order
ensured fundamental rights enshrined in Pakistan’s Constitution. The
Supreme Court in its judgement stated:
“i. The proposed order, which (modified as noted…) is annexed to this

judgement, shall be forthwith promulgated by the president on the
advice of the federal government, and in any case within a fortnight
hereof;
ii. No amendment shall be made to the order as so promulgated except

in terms of the procedure provided in Article 124 of the same, nor shall
it be repealed or substituted, without the instrument amending,
repealing or substituting … the same being placed before this court by
the federation through an application that will be treated as a petition
under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. Nothing in this judgement shall
be construed to limit the jurisdiction conferred on this court by the
proposed order itself; and
iii. If the order so promulgated is repealed or substituted by an act of
parliament the validity thereof, if challenged, shall be examined on the
touchstone of the Constitution.“
However, the PTI government, despite the instructions to execute an

agreed-upon law, took a U-turn and submitted a revision petition, in
which it asserted that the populace of GB had expressed a desire for the
region to be governed through an act passed by Pakistan’s parliament
that, curiously, did not represent them.
This statement was baseless and appeared to be a deliberate pretext to

obstruct the issuance of the revised order as the PTI government
wanted to retain the dictatorial powers of the 2018 order.
To further advance this dubious agenda, the PTI government submitted

amendments to the agreed-upon provisions aimed at diminishing the
authoritarian powers vested in the government. This move contradicted
its commitment to exploring constitutional amendments regarding the
region’s provisional status.
Notably, it sought to eliminate a statement in the draft order’s

preamble that addressed this very consideration. The proposed
amendments outlined in this petition were specifically designed to
obstruct the application of fundamental rights through the Supreme
Court which required any future amendments to be subject to the
court’s endorsement.
Under the intense pressure of the people, the PTI did introduce the
constitutional amendment for giving provisional status to GB, but that,
too, was scuttled by the local PTI GB government by forming a
committee to consider the proposed constitutional amendment, using
its quislings in the local assembly.
Even the coalition government, comprising major political parties, failed

to reconsider the revision petition. Instead, they allowed the
governance of GB to persist under the revoked and oppressive 2018
decree. This disregard for the well-being of the region’s populace has
generated a sense of despondency in the area.
Amidst the ongoing political acrimony, the predicament of the people of

GB has been overlooked. In the broader interest of the nation, it is
incumbent upon the authorities to intervene and, at the very least,
ensure the implementation of the 2019 draft law, thereby advancing the
safeguarding of GB residents’ rights.
Concurrently to align with the national political process, the present

legislative assembly should be dissolved and elections held with general
elections in the rest of the country. The present timing of elections after
the formation of the federal government becomes a farce as the party
in power through massive rigging facilitated by an oppressive law, forms
the local government.
The people of GB’s prolonged wait to be fully recognised as Pakistani

citizens must come to an end as the new generation does not have the
patience to wait any further. Muted protests are gradually turning into
vociferous slogans for a unique demand of accession.
Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2023
0
Read more
Unrest in Gilgit-Baltistan as clerics court controversy
GB unrest
Will normalise GB situation within two days, claims CM
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
return soon.
Latest Stories
Lanka challenge
Cup
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
DAWN.COM Logo
HOME
LATEST
PAKISTAN
OPINION
BUSINESS
Search
Search
Shaky governance arrangement

Afzal Ali Shigri Published May 13, 2023
0
1x
1.2x
1.5x
DEMOCRACY thrives in an environment wherein the diverse interests of
common citizens are channelised through a political process informed
by a framework for policy decision-making and implementation.
Representing as they do the collective voice of the people, political

parties play a vital role in ensuring the effective implementation of
policy decisions as well as the maintenance of an accountable,
transparent, and functional governance system.
While political parties play a crucial role in democracy, within a federal
system, smaller administrative units or provinces can end up being
overshadowed by the national government.
When regions lack a defined political status, the situation results even
in the denial of the areas’ genuine demands. Thus, relegated to a lesser
status, these regions are subjected to unaccountable control by national
political parties.
Gilgit-Baltistan is one such region of Pakistan. Despite the passage of

more than 73 years of existence, GB remains under de facto federal
control. After years of struggle, the government of Pakistan (GoP) in
2009, during the PPP’s tenure, agreed to establish in GB a government
with an assembly comprising elected representatives of the people of
this region.
This assembly, however, featured only limited powers of legislation. To

give GB an appearance of a province, the presidential decree issued by
the PPP government also authorised the creation of the offices of chief
minister and governor.
Prior to this, powerless advisory councils created through

administrative orders were the norm. Even in these bodies, the
dominance of national political parties in GB was ensured through the
election or nomination of their own members.
These parties also pitched their members for the newly established
assembly. The local population considered aligning with these national
parties as a way to achieve their rights.
The time is ripe for GB to form a local party with its own manifesto,
which focuses on local problems.
Conveniently, the GoP held the election in the middle of the National
Assembly’s term. Thus, a rather shaky governance arrangement created
through an administrative order came to be dominated by the party in
the centre.
Successive elections have turned into a farce, as an all-powerful and

unaccountable central government invariably ends up winning the
elections and forming the local government. Resultantly, no local party
representing the interests of the region has formed due to its lack of fit
with the national political structure.
Compared to this situation, initially, Azad Jammu & Kashmir,

represented by their local party, attained autonomy as a largely
independent entity. Under national political parties, GB continues to
struggle even for a provisional provincial status. This has practically
rendered more than two million people stateless, leading to serious
ramifications that weaken the national interest. After AJK let in national
parties, it ended up having to toe their line on national policies, thus
compromising local priorities.
Unfortunately, under the guise of reforms of the political system, major
national political parties have mutated into family fiefdoms or business
ventures. This has tightened the dynastic hold on the leading political
parties.
The dominance of the party head has been further cemented through
legislation, making the latter all-powerful and accountable to none.
Such an autocratic hierarchical structure has forced the already frail
regional chapters to be totally subservient to the national party
leadership.
The makeup of the present legislative assembly of GB comprises 22 PTI,

four PPP, three PML-N, one MWM, one JUI, one Islami Tehreek Pakistan
and one independent members. During the elections, the return of
majority of the members belonging to the PTI was a forgone conclusion,
as the party was then heading the federal government.
Under the impetus of popular demand for constitutional rights on par

with citizens of Pakistan, a constitutional amendment for provisional
status of a province for GB was floated.
However, purportedly due to lack of interest by the PTI federal

government, the proposal was consigned to cold storage through the
formation of a committee to examine the proposed amendment — a
tried-and-tested tactic for scuttling unwanted proposals.
One of the major issues to emerge in the local politics of GB is the
erosion of traditional values of mutual respect and tolerance. These can
be traced back to the Buddhist cultural influences on GB. Recently, such
tolerance and acceptance have been replaced by antagonistic norms,
with divisive sectarianism now manifesting itself even in political
disagreements.
Unfortunately, during the last elections in GB, political campaigns were

observed to be tainted by the toxic, violent, and abusive practices of
national parties, with leaders resorting to venomous diatribes, not even
sparing female candidates heading the opposing parties.
This behaviour appalled the local population, which expected the

political leaders to be role models. Moreover, the youth continue to be
exposed to these bitter discourses through interaction with the content
produced by social media warriors.
To safeguard the rights and cultural values of the people of GB, it is vital
for the local political leadership to establish a new party focused on
securing constitutional rights, a fair share of natural resources, inclusion
in CPEC, and on repairing the damage wrought by the canker of
corruption laced with arrogance in the political system over the last five
years. Parting ways with the national parties will help to reinstate the
politics of decency in GB.
Such a political party would have the moral ballast to compel the
federal government to address all genuine demands, while denying it
the opportunity to ‘divide and rule.’
Estimated to cost $57 billion, the upcoming Main Line 1 (ML1) CPEC
project offers unprecedented opportunities for regional prosperity.
Thus, the time is ripe for GB to form a local party with its own manifesto
which focuses on the local problems and priorities so that it can speak
on behalf of the people of GB while disentangling from national political
conflicts.
By uniting under a single banner, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan can

secure their constitutional rights and carve a better future for
themselves and future generations.
It is crucial to ensure that the party’s agenda represents the views and
interests of all members of the community and operates within the
framework of democratic principles and rule of law.
Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2023
0
Read more
Unlearnt lessons
Future in jeopardy
On DawnNews
DAWN NEWS ENGLISH

With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
With Hamas
Attack
Refugees
return soon.
Latest Stories
Lanka challenge
Cup
Dawn images site
Yazdani
Most Popular
01
02
03
04
Palestinians killed
05
Palestine at war
06
07
08
09
Must Read
it once and for all
Reuters
Yazdani
Images Staff
Opinion
Unlearnt lessons
Maleeha Lodhi
Asma Humayun
09 Oct, 2023
Future in jeopardy
Arif Hasan
09 Oct, 2023
In the middle
Zarrar Khuhro
Delimitation blues
Tahir Mehdi
Editorial
Turned away
Arrested growth
09 Oct, 2023
Pulpit concerns
Palestine at war
justice.
08 Oct, 2023
Privatising Discos
08 Oct, 2023
Dismal performance
DAWN.COM Logo
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Apple
Android
Huwaei App Gallery
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
Al Jazeera
See this story on our app
VIEW IN APP
Skip links
Skip to Content
LIVE
News
Pakistan’s governing PTI poised to form gov’t in Gilgit-Baltistan
PM Imran Khan’s party, which promised to upgrade the Himalayan
region’s status, won 10 of the 23 seats, according to unofficial results.
With the addition of the proportional representation seats, PTI and its
allies are expected to have 16 seats, one short of the number needed
for an outright majority [File: Umar Farooq/Reuters]
Published On 17 Nov 2020
17 Nov 2020
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s governing
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is poised to form a government in
the semi-autonomous state of Gilgit-Baltistan, a part of the disputed
region of Kashmir, unofficial results show.
Khan’s PTI won 10 seats of the 23 on which elections were contested,

unofficial results from the state’s election commission showed on
Tuesday.
KEEP READING
List of 3 items
List 1 of 3
Millions at risk as melting Pakistan glaciers raise flood fears
List 2 of 3
Pakistan’s opposition takes blunt aim at country’s military
List 3 of 3
Pakistan PM vows to grant provisional status to Gilgit-Baltistan
End of list
The country’s two largest opposition parties, the Pakistan People’s Party
(PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) won three seats and two
seats respectively in the election, which was held on Sunday.
Seven seats were won by independent candidates, who are expected to

have a key role in the formation of the government. The Majlis
Wahdatul Muslimeen, a religious party alliance, won one seat.
The Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly consists of 24 directly elected

seats, in addition to nine reserved seats for women and political
appointees that are allocated based on a proportional representation
basis. The house has 33 seats in total.
A by-election will be held on the one remaining directly-elected seat

after one of the candidates in that race died due to COVID-19 in the
run-up to the polls.
The PTI’s campaign was buoyed by PM Khan promising to accord the

territory ‘provisional provincial status’ during a campaign rally on
November 1 [File: Syed Mehdi Shah/AFP]
With the addition of the proportional representation seats, Khan’s PTI
and its allies are expected to have 16 seats, one short of the number
needed for an outright majority.
The PTI’s campaign was buoyed by PM Khan promising to accord the
territory “provisional provincial status” during a campaign rally on
November 1.
The PPP and PML-N, meanwhile, have alleged “vote-rigging” in the

election, although leaders did not immediately share any specific
evidence.
Strategically important territory

Gilgit-Baltistan, a mountainous territory that is home to some of the
highest peaks in the world, is currently governed through a partnership
between the semi-autonomous legislative assembly, a council of leaders
and the federal government.
Sign up for Al Jazeera

Week in the Middle East
Catch up on our coverage of the region, all in one place.
E-mail address
Sign up
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy
The proposal to upgrade the territory’s status, which opposition parties
have agreed to, would see the Gilgit-Baltistan government accorded
greater powers and autonomy over local issues.
The territory, home to an estimated two million people, is strategically
important and is the site of a key link between Pakistan and regional
ally China to the north. The road transportation portion of the $65bn
China Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through the territory
before entering Pakistan proper.
It is also part of the disputed region of Kashmir, over which India and
Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since gaining
independence in 1947. Both countries claim Kashmir in full but
administer separate portions of it.
In November, India “rejected” Pakistan’s proposal to upgrade Gilgit-

Baltistan’s status to a provisional province.
Gilgit-Baltistan, home to an estimated two million people, is

strategically important and is the site of a key link between Pakistan and
regional ally China to the north [File: Umer Farooq/Reuters]
“The Government of India firmly rejects the attempt by Pakistan to
bring material changes to a part of Indian territory, under its illegal and
forcible occupation,” said Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag
Srivastava.
“I reiterate that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and

Ladakh, including the area of so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’, are an integral
part of India by virtue of the legal, complete and irrevocable accession
of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947.”
Pakistan responded by saying any change in Gilgit-Baltistan’s status

would still be subject to United Nations resolutions on the Kashmir
dispute, which called in 1948 for a plebiscite to be held to determine
which country it would join.
“Pakistan’s position on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute remains firmly

anchored in the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions,”
said a Pakistani foreign ministry statement earlier this month.
“The final resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute is only possible
through the exercise of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination by
holding free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United
Nations.”
Pakistani security officials have confirmed that any proposed change to

Gilgit-Baltistan’s status would include a provision that would continue to
subject it to the final resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Locals participate in a campaign ahead of the elections in Sherqilla,

Gilgit-Baltistan [File: Umar Farooq/Reuters]
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
LISTEN TO THESE PODCASTS
Podcast episode artwork
Play
From: The Inside Story Podcast
What does Syria’s latest attack mean for the future of the war?
A brazen attack and a reminder that the violence in Syria is far from
over.The government blames armed groups for the atta…
Play
From: The Take
October 7, 2023
It’s a date that is now history. Saturday’s Hamas attack sent shockwaves
through Israel, Palestine, and the world, 50 year…
Play
From: The Inside Story Podcast
How did the dams in Libya fail?
Looking for bodies…and answers. Teams in Libya are still searching for
people after two dams collapsed. But how could st…
RELATED
Millions at risk as melting Pakistan glaciers raise flood fears
As ice melts, there is risk of large glacial lakes bursting through banks
and creating deadly flash floods downstream.
Published On 9 Jun 2020

9 Jun 2020
Hassanabad
Pakistan’s opposition takes blunt aim at country’s military
Opposition parties unite to launch new anti-government movement,
but analysts are sceptical it can unseat PM Khan.
Published On 24 Sep 2020

24 Sep 2020
Pakistan Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan PM vows to grant provisional status to Gilgit-Baltistan
Imran Khan says his gov’t will grant provisional provincial status to a
portion of the disputed region, angering India.
Published On 2 Nov 2020

2 Nov 2020
MORE FROM NEWS

What is happening in Israel and Gaza? A look at the war with Hamas
Flames and smoke erupt from Israeli strikes in Gaza [Mohammed
Salem/Reuters]
Hezbollah fires on Israel after several members killed in shelling
Israeli forces launch artillery fire towards southern Lebanon from the
border zone in northern Israel on October 9 [Jalaa Marey/AFP]
What’s the Israel-Palestine conflict about? A simple guide
Palestinians carry their possessions on their heads as they flee from a
village in Galilee about five months after the creation of the state of
Israel in 1948 [File: Reuters]
‘Significant landmark’: Cricket recommended for Los Angeles 2028
Olympics
A boy plays cricket on Marina beach in the southern Indian city of
Chennai[File: Babu/Reuters]
MOST READ
Fierce Israeli bombing rocks Gaza through the night, death toll rises
Smoke rises from Israeli strikes in Gaza [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
Israel-Hamas war in maps and charts: Live Tracker
West accused of ‘double standard’ over responses to Palestine, Ukraine

US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the 78th United
Nations General Assembly in New York City, the US, September 20, 2023
[File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
OPINIONOPINION,
Netanyahu is drawing the US into war with Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 78th United
Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on
September 22, 2023 [File: Reuters/Mike Segar]
AboutShow more
ConnectShow more
Our ChannelsShow more
Our NetworkShow more
Follow Al Jazeera English:
Al Jazeera Media Network logo

© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network
Logo
Today’s Paper| October 10, 2023
HOME LATEST NEWS TRENDING PAKISTAN CITIES POLITICS BUSINESS
VIDEOS WORLD LIFE & STYLE SPORTS OPINION TMAGAZINE BLOGS
T.EDIT SCI-TECH HEALTH ADVICE OTHER
The importance of being G-B
Nothing can bar G-B’s people from taking in their own hands power to
self-rule with the region’s security underwritten
M Ziauddin | November 21, 2020
The writer served as executive editor of the express tribune from 2009
to 2014
The writer served as executive editor of The Express Tribune from 2009
to 2014
Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) has, since the advent of the $62 billion CPEC,
become too important for Pakistan in the context of both geopolitics
and geo-economics to be treated as no more than an inconsequential
backyard of the country. More so because CPEC is an integral part of
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
So, the earlier we merge, via an appropriate constitutional amendment,

G-B into Pakistan as our fifth province the better it would be for both
Pakistan and China and our mutual economic progress. But the wisdom
of this move would need to be first tested against its impact, one way or
the other, on our case that India had violated the relevant UN
resolutions by merging Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) with the Indian
Union. And mind you, there is no such thing as “provisional provincial
status”. Those soliciting the political support of G-B’s people by selling
them such dubious notions are only indulging in deception.
However, nothing can bar G-B’s people from taking in their own hands
the powers to self-rule with the region’s security underwritten by
Pakistan, no matter which political party or coalition of parties rules in
Islamabad at any given time.
As such, electing a government to rule G-B should be a matter
concerning solely its people and that of the region’s election
commission (EC) which should guarantee level-playing field to any
political party with roots in G-B to contest the election. That the
contesting parties in the just concluded election not only lacked a level-
playing field but also faced a number of pitfalls has dented to an extent
the credibility of the results.
According to FAFEN’s preliminary report a vibrant and competitive

election campaign turned intense and heated towards the end over the
controversy of federal minsters running election campaigns in violation
of legal limits.
Gender disaggregated turnout data was not available for GBA-8 Skardu-
II, GBA-9 Skardu-III, GBA-12 Shigar, GBA-13 Astore-I, GBA-15 Diamer-I,
GBA-17 Diamer-III, which prevented the Election Commission of Gilgit
Baltistan (ECGB) from implementing the provisions of Section 9(1) of
the Elections Act, 2017 requiring re-polling in one or more polling
stations or the entire constituency if female turnout is less than 10% of
the total votes polled in that constituency.
At places breaches of the secrecy of vote was witnessed as “stamping of

ballots by others on behalf of voters, and voters registered at the
polling stations turned away for various reasons despite having their
NICs”.
Similarly, the ECGB did not consistently ensure the provision of Form 45
(the Result of the Count) and Form 46 (the Ballot Paper Account) to all
polling agents present at the polling stations during the vote counting
process, which would have helped enhance the integrity of the election
results management. At places presiding officers had to issue polling
station results to the polling agents on plain papers under their stamps
and signatures, the legality of which has yet to be established.
Instances of polling agents seated where they could not observe the
voting process were reported from six constituencies. More serious
were reports that candidates and their agents were barred from ROs’
offices during the preparation of the preliminary results in at least three
constituencies, and delays in the release of provisional results on Form-
47 (Provisional Consolidated Statement of Results of the Count) in more
than 10 constituencies. These issues also caused major political
contenders to question the credibility of the outcome and raise
allegations of electoral fraud.
The ECGB could have released results progressively as they were

received from the polling stations to ensure media reported accurate
official results promptly, instead of using a parallel system to gather
information and report unofficial and potentially unreliable results.
This preliminary report is based on the summary observation of 436

polling stations observed in 23 constituencies, more than 37% of 1,137
polling stations — 385 male, 386 female and 402 combined.
Incidents of minor violence inside polling stations involving candidates,
polling agents, political workers and polling staff were observed in
47.8% constituencies.
Load Next Story

Join Us
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed

or derived from. Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted ©
2023 The Express Tribune.
FOLLOW US
Sign in Subscribe
SIGN IN
Welcome!Log into your account
Your username
Your password
Forgot your password?
CREATE AN ACCOUNT
SIGN UP
Welcome!Register for an account
Your email
Your username
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PASSWORD RECOVERY
Recover your password
Your email
Profit
HEADLINES
February 21, 2022
Govt accelerates move to grant GB provincial status
By Ghulam Abbas
The government has accelerated the process of granting Gilgit Baltistan

(GB) a provincial status; with almost all major political parties having
agreed for the required legislation.
According to provincial ministers and lawmakers from opposition

parties, a consensus has finally been made among all major political
parties regarding making GB a province through amendments in the
constitution.
During the past two weeks a number of meetings among the
stakeholders has been held in Islamabad where a draft proposal
regarding amendments in the constitution, prepared after thorough
deliberations, was discussed.
Earlier GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid had circulated among

members of the GB Legislative Assembly and his cabinet a draft bill
seeking to amend the constitution to grant “provisional province status”
to the strategically-located region, asking them to submit their
“feedback and views”.
Later the same draft was shared with heads of political parties including
PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, MQM, PML-Q and others by their representatives in
the GB assembly for approval and feedback.
The bill has suggested a number of key amendments to the Constitution

of 1973 seeking representation of the GB in the country’s National
Assembly and the Senate, besides the Election Commission of Pakistan
(ECP).
According to an insider, both the center and regional government are

intending to complete the process early. After developing major
consensus on the draft reform bill, the stakeholders have also
constituted a committee of 18 members including experts, lawmakers
and bureaucrats, to finalize the transitional plan and other related
arrangements before and after the amendments in the constitution.
As per Information Minister GB, Fathullah Khan, the final draft bill
would be approved by the federal cabinet before the same is cleared
from GB assembly through a resolution. Subsequently the same would
be presented in the National Assembly for legislation, which needed a
two-third majority in the house.
“Since the issue of Kashmir has been protected through the bill and GB
would be granted a provisional provincial status till a plebiscite on
Kashmir, all major political parties and stakeholders are agreed on the
proposed bill,” he claimed.
Though GB would be treated as a province, the exemptions and

subsidies available in the area would remain unchanged.
It is worth noting here that locals have demanded constitutional rights

for the territory for a long time. Now, as the government moves ahead
with this, there will be four seats for GB in the National Assembly (NA)
and seven in the Senate.
- Advertisement –
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
FBR broadens investigation against Hareem Shah
NEXT ARTICLE
PPL discovers hydrocarbon reserves in Sindh
Ghulam Abbas
The writer is a member of the staff at the Islamabad Bureau. He can be
reached at ghulam.abbas@pakistantoday.com.pk
1 COMMENT
AMIR
February 22, 2022 At 11:39 am
Good Job
Comments are closed.
RELATED ARTICLES
Economy
PM Kakar prepares for China visit amidst supposed slowdown in CPEC
expansion
Economy
Slashed by Rs 41? No change at all? What could happen going into this
week’s fortnightly fuel pricing decision
Energy
CCoE likely to end free electricity facility for WAPDA, DISCOs, GENCOs,
NTDC, PITC officers
Energy
MPCL discovers new gas reserves in Ghotki Sindh
- Advertisement –
MUST READ
Top News Updates

Mari Petroleum achieves milestone with successful drilling of Ghazij-2
Appraisal Well
October 9, 2023
Mari Petroleum Company Limited (PSX:MPCL), the Operator of Mari
Development and Production Lease (D&PL), has achieved a significant
milestone in the energy exploration sector…
PKR appreciates by 5 rupees against US Dollar in open market

October 9, 2023
WB withdraws tax recommendation for low salaries

October 9, 2023
Signs of significant shale gas reservoirs found in Sindh

October 9, 2023
Profit by Pakistan Today
Publishing Editor: Babar Nizami – Joint Editor: Yousaf Nizami – Editor
Multimedia: Umar Aziz Senior Editor: Abdullah Niazi I Sub-Editor: Basit
Munawar – Video Editors: Talha Farooqi I Fawad Shakeel – Business
Reporters: Taimoor Hassan l Daniyal Ahmad | Shahab Omer l Zain
Naeem | Saneela Jawad | Ghulam Abbass l Ahmad Ahmadani l Shehzad
Paracha l Aziz Buneri | Nisma Riaz | Mariam Umar | Urooj Imran |
Shahnawaz Ali | Meerub Amir | - Regional Heads of Marketing:
Mudassir Alam (Khi) | Sohail Abbas (Lhe) | Malik Israr (Isb) – Pakistan’s
#1 business magazine – your go-to source for business, economic and
financial news.
Contact us: profit@pakistantoday.com.pk
Privacy policy
Copyright © 2023. Pakistan Today. All Rights Reserved.
OneindiaOneindia App
Feature
Gilgit-Baltistan, a gloomy land
Plenty of mini and micro-hydro sites have been discovered across GB
which could be developed but the region has plunged into darkness due
to a lack of investment from the Pakistani establishment.
By R C Ganjoo
Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 12:04 [IST]
Ironically, there seems no improvement in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) situation
and the rights abuses go on unabated in the disputed territory. There
are a number of political activists who are still behind the bars for
raising voice for the rights of the 2 million disenfranchised people there.
ADVERTISEMENT
Formerly known as the Northern Areas, GB is a region administered by

Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern
portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a
dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and
China from somewhat later period. It borders ‘Azad Kashmir’ to the
south, the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the
Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of
China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered Union
territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gilgit-Baltistan, a gloomy land
Gilgit-Baltistan is six times larger than Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)

in terms of geographical area. It covers an area of over 72,971 sq km
and is highly mountainous. It has an estimated population of 14,92,924.
Currently, GB is neither a province nor a State. It has a semi-provincial

status. Officially, the Pakistan government had rejected calls for
integration with Pakistan on the grounds that it would jeopardise its
demands for the whole Kashmir issue to be resolved as per the UN
resolutions. Some Kashmiri separatist groups, such as the Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), claim GB as part of a future
independent State to match what existed in 1947 whereas the reality is
that it is a part of the former princely State of Jammu and Kashmir
which is an integral part of India.
ADVERTISEMENT
Protests rage like wild-fire in Gilgit-Baltistan after Pakistan army-ISI grab
land illegally
The region has now asserted itself against the hegemony of Pakistan in
a democratic way of mass protests against electricity shortages,
reduction in the wheat quota, taxation and land-grabbing. The frequent
protests have been superheated by the Awami Action Committee – an
alliance of various political, religious and trade associations.
ADVERTISEMENT
Most of the population in the GB region lives without access to the
national grid and mostly relies on traditional energy resources, which
undermines the huge potential of renewable energy in the region. Of
the 1.8 million people of GB, 86% reside in the rural areas. The region
faces severe electricity shortfalls despite having good potential for
untapped photovoltaic (PV), wind and hydro resources due to a lack of
proper energy policy, infrastructural development issues, and
investment barriers for the private sector.
Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
The Pakistani establishment is not interested in seeing the region
prosperous and self-independent. Across Gilgit-Baltistan, energy
sources used in household and commercial enterprises are firewood,
kerosene oil, candles, hydropower, thermal power, dung cakes, diesel
oil, batteries, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and coal. The current
energy mix of the GB region is 45% firewood, 30% LPG, 19% electricity
(distributed hydro plants) and 6% kerosene oil.
ADVERTISEMENT
GB contributes minutely to the economy of Pakistan despite having
immense economic potential in the form of tourist attractions, massive
resources of renewable energy, deposits of minerals and precious
stones as well as its geopolitical location that facilitates the only road
crossing trade link between Pakistan and China – the linchpin of CPEC.
Since about 75% of the population of Gilgit-Baltistan is connected to

unreliable and inefficient generating plants, it faces severe shortfalls
both in the summer and winter seasons. The local government and
international organizations have consistently shown interest in financing
community-based micro-hydro stations in GB. Plenty of mini and micro-
hydro sites have been discovered across GB which could be developed
but due to a lack of resources and investment by Pakistan, the region
has plunged into darkness.
Pakistan scared on PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan

GB’s land issue is grave and has persisted for decades. It acquired
greater urgency after 2015 when Pakistan started obtaining more and
more land in the name of development and security for CPEC. Locals
argue that the land belongs to GB’s people, as the region is disputed
and has not yet been constitutionally integrated into Pakistan. The
common land in GB has been used by the people for livestock grazing,
collecting firewood, etc since Dogra rule – in fact, for centuries before
that, the locals claim. Interestingly, in the Land Revenue Act, which was
extended to GB, this common land is not shown as government land.
With the rise in population and the sudden spike in prices, the value of
land increased manifold, and the conflict between the State and the
people started. They are demanding compensation for the land given to
State institutions and the cancellation of illegal allotments to land
mafias.
After GB’s separation, successive Pakistani governments gave little

importance to the barren land over there. When Bhutto abolished the
local feudal system and brought land reforms in the 1970s, GB residents
paid an amount of money devised by the government at the time to
obtain ownership. In 1914-16, the Dogras, facing difficulty in revenue
collection, provided cultivated land to the local rulers, or ‘rajas’, to
collect revenue and give it to the State as taxation. The remaining land
was considered ‘shamilaat’ (common property) of the villages.
(R C Ganjoo is a senior journalist and columnist having more than 30

years experience of covering issues concerning national security,
particularly Kashmir. He has worked with several prominent media
groups and his articles have been published in many national and
international publications.)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal
opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article
do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any
responsibility or liability for the same.
More DISPUTE News

Mathura temple case takes a decisive turn
Man arrested for abducting and killing friend’s 4-year-old boy over past
fights
AIADMK dispute: OPS sits on Dy Oppn Leader’s chair as EPS skips first
day of TN Assembly Session
Tanzania: Maasai community lose land dispute
Palestinian support for China in Taiwan dispute not surprising
Chhattisgarh: 5 ITBP jawans killed, 3 injured after dispute at Kadenar
camp
Tell them they are part of India: SC to judges in Kerala
Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat, Kashmiriyat: Understanding Vajpayee’s Kashmir
doctrine
View More on Oneindia
Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Cookie Policy • Contact • About Us•

Advertise • Jobs • Apps•Code of Business Conduct • Grievance
© 2023 One.in Digitech Media Pvt. Ltd.
Gilgit Baltistan: An interim province
*Click the Title above to view complete article on
https://www.nation.com.pk/.
1 year agoMasud Ahmad Khan
Gilgit Baltistan: An interim province
The location of Gilgit-Baltistan is strategically important as it shares a

border the Wakhan Corridor, the Xingjian region of China, IIOJK and
Chitral. The region covers an area of 72,000 square kilometers and its
population is over 1.5 million. On March 16, 1846, the state of Jammu
and Kashmir was created by the British with Gulab Singh installed as the
Maharaja. The region of Gilgit-Baltistan at that time was not a part of
the newly created state and was divided into several small independent
states. Gilgit was annexed by the Dogra forces after several attacks and
the death of Yasin Gohar Aman.
In 1889, Gilgit was established as an agency under British control. On
March, 20, 1935, the British decided to take Gilgit on a lease from the
Maharaja for 60 years and on August 1, 1947, Brigadier Ghansara Singh
assumed the responsibilities of the governor of Gilgit. The decision of
appointing Ghansara Singh was not well received. On the night of
October 31, 1947, his residence was surrounded by Gilgit Scouts and in
the morning of November 1, he surrendered.
Immediately, the government of Pakistan was contacted and asked to
take control of the region. On August 14, 1948, Lt. Col. Thapa, who was
the commanding officer of the sixth Jammu and Kashmir battalion at
Skardu surrendered to the azad forces. On April 6, 1948, Gilgit was
placed under the political resident of NWFP for administration. The
administration of Northern Areas (GB) was transferred to the
government of Pakistan by the AJK government and a separate ministry
of Kashmir affairs and Northern Areas was created. On November 18,
1970, an Advisory Council was created known as Northern Areas
Advisory Council (NAAC) and elections were held. In 1972, the
institutions of Rajas and Mirs were abolished and in 1975, the Frontier
Crimes Regulations (FCR) was also abolished.
In 1982, three representatives from Gilgit-Baltistan were taken to
Majlis-e-Shura with the status of observers. The Northern Area Council
elections were later held in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991. On June 12,
1994, Northern Areas Legal Frame Work Order 1994 was issued which
provided additional seats for women and the post of Deputy Chief
Executive was created. Five advisors were also taken. In 1999, the
Supreme Court of Pakistan declared that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan
are citizens of Pakistan and directed the federal government to take
proper administrative and legislative steps. By 1999, the Northern Areas
Council was renamed as the Northern Area Legislative Council and
elections were held in 1999 and 2004.
In 2009, some major steps were taken when the ‘Empowerment and
Self Governance Order 2009’ was introduced. A province like status was
given to GB which created the appointments of chief minister and
governor. The ‘Northern Areas’ were renamed as ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’
thereby giving an identity to the region. A 16-member Council was
created. These packages and reforms have not come up to the
expectations of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In 2015, a Committee under Sartaj Aziz was formed to recommend
reforms for the region. It recommended a provisional province-like
status by amending the constitution of Pakistan. The committee also
recommended representation in the parliament of Pakistan and other
national level organisations. However, no steps were taken and the
‘Government of Gilgit-Baltistan Order of 2018’ was introduced.
In September 2020, the government announced to make Gilgit-Baltistan
an interim province with representation in the parliament. On
November 1, 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan confirmed while
addressing the people of Gilgit that his government would give a
provisional provincial status to the region. He constituted a committee
to the finalise the modalities and procedures for granting such a status.
The draft of the constitutional amendment has been prepared and very
soon it will be presented in National Assembly.
The government is all set to announce the region as fifth province
(interim) of Pakistan for which final touches are being given by federal
government while taking the GB government onboard. All the political
parties at a national level and political and religious parties of Gilgit-
Baltistan have agreed to this landmark decision. This step will have no
negative effect on the Jammu and Kashmir issue as it will be an interim
province and linked to the final settlement of the issue. The people of
Gilgit-Baltistan were, are and will remain part of Pakistan.
Israeli army strikes over 500 targets in overnight raids on Gaza
View More News

Powered
logoSUPPORThomePOLITICS ECONOMY WORLD SECURITY CULTURE
OPINION VIDEO ANALYSIS MEDIA GOVERNMENT WORLD EDITORS PICK
TOP STORIES LIVE WIRE SCIENCE ABOUT USPoliticsKashmir Separatists
Oppose Pakistani Plans to Grant Gilgit-Baltistan Provincial StatusIn a
joint statement, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Yasin said Pakistan’s proposal amounts to changing
Kashmir’s disputed nature.Mudasir Ahmad
Mar 21, 2017
In a joint statement, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Yasin said Pakistan’s proposal amounts to changing
Kashmir’s disputed nature.
Content-img
File photo of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Credit: PTI
Srinagar: Riled by the Pakistani government’s plans to declare Gilgit-

Baltistan a fifth province of the country, separatists in the Kashmir
Valley have warned Islamabad to desist from embarking on any
“adventure” that could impact Kashmir’s “disputed status”.
Although Gilgit-Baltistan – formerly known as the Northern Areas and a

part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir – has been
under Pakistan’s control since 1947, the country’s government has
always treated the region as part of the disputed area of J&K.
“Any proposal to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of Pakistan
is unacceptable as it tantamount to changing the disputed nature of
Kashmir,” the powerful separatist leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, cautioned
Islamabad in a joint statement on March 17.
Advertisement
Advertisement
The trio – who led last year’s five-month long pro-freedom uprising –
have argued that since Jammu and Kashmir’s political destiny remains
undecided in accordance with the UN resolution on the matter, any
proposal which deviates from Pakistan’s “original stance” on Kashmir
and its geographical entity is “improper and would prove detrimental
for [the] Kashmir cause”. “We hail the role of Pakistan regarding the
Kashmir issue in international for a but no deviation, alternation and
changes were acceptable unless people of erstwhile J&K get an
opportunity to decide the future course of the state through a
referendum. Neither India nor Pakistan have any authority or right to
alter geographical status of the state,” the separatist leaders said.
On the same day that the separatists cautioned Pakistan, United Jihad
Council chief and Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin also
warned Islamabad. “Pakistan should stop the process of making Gilgit-
Baltistan its fifth province. Such an act will have serious ramifications on
the Kashmir issue as well as Kashmir-centric UN resolutions,”
Salahuddin said in a statement to a Srinagar-based local news agency.
In 2014, a similar proposal by the country’s federal ministry of Kashmir
and Gilgit-Baltistan affairs was criticised by residents of divided Kashmir
across the Line of Control. On that occasion, in addition to the
separatists’ opposition, the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) assembly
also passed a resolution opposing the granting of provincial status to
Gilgit-Baltistan. “Making Gilgit-Baltistan a fifth province will weaken
Pakistan’s national stand on Jammu and Kashmir at the international
level,” said the resolution. And added, “Whenever a plebiscite is
conducted the people of G-B will also have the right to decide their
future with the people of other parts of the State of Jammu and
Kashmir”.
The history
According to political analyst Ashiq Hussain, Gilgit-Baltistan was

incorporated into Jammu and Kashmir by the Dogras – whose rule
lasted a century – in 1846. In 1949, after the Kashmir issue went to the
United Nations, Pakistan inked the Karachi agreement under which it
was agreed that the affairs of the region would be run by the
government of Pakistan under a separate federal ministry of Kashmir
Affairs and Northern Areas, said Hussain. Islamabad, however,
continued to treat the region as part of disputed Kashmir and a
separate geographical entity.
In 2009, while the name Northern Areas was replaced with Gilgit-
Baltistan, Islamabad allowed the region to elect its own government
with a chief minister as its executive head and the federally-appointed
governor as the constitutional head. Though the region has its own
regional assembly, the ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas
continues to be the real power centre in the region.
The plan and the cause
On March 15, Pakistan’s minister for inter-provincial coordination, Riaz

Hussain Pirzada, told Geo TV that a committee headed by Pakistan’s
foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving provincial status
to Gilgit-Baltistan. He said that a constitutional amendment would be
made to change the region’s status. Gilgit-Baltistan is the entry-point to
the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and recent
media reports have implied that Beijing’s concerns about the region’s
disputed status have prompted Islamabad to make the move and
provide legal cover to the CPEC.
“Beijing, in its search for securitising China’s western territories, has

invested hugely in Gilgit-Baltistan. It wants to protect that investment
and so has pressured Islamabad to declare Gilgit-Baltistan a province in
order to weaken Delhi’s objections to its claims over the disputed
state,” political analyst Siddiq Wahid told The Wire.
But the separatists are not alone in their opposition to the change in
the status. New Delhi was, in fact, the first to criticise Pakistan.
Although it took an entirely different stand. “…The entire state of
Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in 1947. It has been, is and will
always be an integral part of India. A part of J&K has been under illegal
occupation of Pakistan. Any unilateral step by Pakistan to alter the
status of that part will have no basis in law and will be completely
unacceptable,” said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of
External Affairs.
Wahid argued that while the sincerity of New Delhi’s objections would
be determined by what it was willing to do to protect its claims to that
territory, the proposed provincial status to the region would
“considerably weaken” Islamabad’s claims vis-à-vis the disputed status
of J&K. In the long run, the confrontation that this development could
bring about could cost South Asia and the world dearly, said Wahid.
“Either that, or there is an unspoken understanding between Delhi and
Islamabad to compromise and further complicate the dispute over our
state. And as for J&K, our helplessness in articulating objections that
matter is proof of how alone we are in making a difference in the
ideological and territorial holy wars that real or pretentious powers
fight,” he said.
“For decades we have been reiterating the disputed status of Kashmir. If

Pakistan goes ahead with its plans, it will justify India’s position on this
part of Kashmir,” said a senior separatist from the Mirwaiz group.
Make a contribution to Independent Journalism

Related Articles
Congress Resolves to Enact Law to Remove 50% Cap on Reservation if
Voted to Power
Committed to ‘Purity of Electoral Rolls’: Chief Election Commissioner
Amid Concerns Over Voter Lists
In Brazil After Bolsonaro, the Significance of Lula Da Silva’s Return and

the Challenges Ahead
Congress’s Elected State Governments To Conduct Caste and Socio-

Economic Surveys
‘Everyone Says Your Land Has Gone’: Kin of Farmer Whose Photo Is
Used on BJP Hoardings Worried
‘If There’s Anything As Such Imposed in the State’: Manipur BJP Leaders
on Article 355
NewsClick Case: Do Allegations Justify Invoking of UAPA? Legal Experts

Weigh In.
Explained: What Is the Now Banned JKDFP and Who Is its Leader Shabir
Shah?
Tallest Statue of Ambedkar Outside India To Be Unveiled in the US on

October 14
How the Union Coal Ministry Made Dense Forests Available for Mining,
Benefitting Adani Group
Copyright ©.
All rights reserved. Created by Readwhere CMS
Monday, October 9, 2023
Eurasia Review
Eurasia Review
A Journal of Analysis and News
Road in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Photo Credit: Jim Qara, Wikimedia

Commons.
Road in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Photo Credit: Jim Qara, Wikimedia
Commons.
Pakistan: Gilgit-Baltistan’s ‘Final Annexation’ Accelerated – Analysis

March 1, 2022 0 Comments
By SATP
By Ajit Kumar Singh*
Islamabad has accelerated the process of imposing a provisional-

provincial status on Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistani media reports claim that
between February 7-14, 2022, a number of meetings were held among
the stakeholders, in Islamabad. During these meetings, the draft of the
“26th Constitutional Amendment Bill” was discussed.
In the meantime, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister (CM) Khalid Khurshid
has circulated the draft of the “26th Constitutional Amendment Bill”
among members of the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly and his
Cabinet, asking them to submit their “feedback and views as early as
possible.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to grant Gilgit-Baltistan

the provisional-provincial status on Pakistan Day, observed each year on
March 23.
To tighten Islamabad’s stranglehold over the region, Prime Minister

Khan had announced the grant of provisional-provincial status to Gilgit-
Baltistan on November 1, 2020. This change of status, he claimed, “was
a long-standing demand of the people of the region.” The provisional-
provincial status was a necessity, as the Government lacks the 2/3rd
majority in the Parliament required for the constitutional amendment
that could make Gilgit-Baltistan the country’s fifth province.
On March 9, 2021, to validate Imran Khan’s claim that the demand for
provincial status came from the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, the Gilgit-
Baltistan Assembly passed a joint resolution, demanding that the region
be granted the status of a provisional province of Pakistan and be
provided representation in the National Assembly, Senate and other
federal institutions. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has a 2/3rd majority in
the Assembly. The resolution was also supported by opposition parties,
who don’t want to be left behind, since a stand on Kashmir plays the
central role in Pakistani politics.
After the resolution, Imran Khan asked his law minister Muhammad
Farogh Naseem to fast-track a draft legislation for granting provisional-
provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan. At July end, the first draft of the
“26th Constitutional Amendment Bill” was prepared and submitted to
the Prime Minister. Subsequently, a second draft was submitted on
September 3, 2021. A September 13 report stated that Prime Minister
Khan gave his consent to the draft and asked Chief Minister Khalid
Khurshid to get it approved by the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly. The Draft
Bill recommendations inter alia include:
There should be four seats, including one reserved for a woman, for
Gilgit Baltistan in the National Assembly of Pakistan.
There should be two members representing Gilgit-Baltistan in the
general seats of the Senate of Pakistan, who will be elected by the
members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Provincial Assembly.
A member from Gilgit-Baltistan should be included in the Election
Commission of Pakistan.
The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan shall extend to the
provisional province of Gilgit-Baltistan, the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme
Appellate Court shall cease to function, and the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief
Court shall be called the Gilgit-Baltistan High Court, which shall be
deemed to have been established by the order of the President.
Till the passing of the September 9, 2009, Gilgit-Baltistan
(Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order 2009, the region had no
legal existence after its illegal annexation from India. Even after the
2009 Order the region was excluded from any constitutional status,
despite clear directives from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, resulting in
the denial of constitutional rights and protection to the population.
Later, the Gilgit Baltistan Order 2018 was promulgated by the then
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on May 21, 2018, replacing the
Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order 2009, with
the ostensible aim to provide the ‘same rights enjoyed by the other
citizens of Pakistan to people of Gilgit Baltistan.’
Significantly, on June 20, 2018, the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-

Baltistan, the highest court of the region, suspended the Gilgit Baltistan
Order 2018 after violent protests across the region. In one such protest,
on May 26, 2018, several people were injured as Police fired tear gas
and resorted to firing in the air in Gilgit city to stop protesters
approaching the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly for a scheduled sit-in against
the newly introduced order. A day earlier, on May 25, 2018, about 2,000
supporters and workers of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf, Islami Tehreek-i-Pakistan, Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen,
Balawaristan National Front, Awami Action Committee, and members of
civil society organizations and trade unions, who gathered at the Ittehad
Chowk in Gilgit District, chanted slogans against the order. They alleged
that the order, which pretends to empower the people of the region by
giving them unprecedented liberty to exercise their fundamental rights,
was in reality another document of deceit and falsehood, designed
tactfully to further suppress the beleaguered indigenous people of the
territory.
Subsequently, on August 8, 2018, the Supreme Court restored the Gilgit

Baltistan Order 2018, suspending the decision of the Supreme Appellate
Court of Gilgit-Baltistan. A three-member Supreme Court Bench,
headed by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar heard the
appeal moved by the Federal Government. Chief Justice Nisar observed,
“The government needs to ensure that the people of Gilgit Baltistan
have the same respect and rights as all others.”
Despite the various Federal initiatives, the situation on the ground

remained unchanged. This has been highlighted time and again. Most
recently, on December 9, 2021, Jammu Kashmir Awami Workers Party
chairperson Nisar Shah Advocate declared,
The constitutional status of PoK [Pakistan occupied Kashmir] and Gilgit-

Baltistan is still of colonial nature, where people have no rights and
even control on their own resources. The whole system is being
controlled by the Federal Government. The assemblies and rulers of
both regions are powerless. The whole power is at the hands of the lent
officers imposed from Pakistan. No one from state subject has to
contest election or to get a job without signing the affidavit of affiliation
of Pakistan. People lack economic, political, social rights and freedom of
expression.
After the recent developments, there is some support in Gilgit-Baltistan

for the proposal to grant provisional-provincial status, in the hope that
this may help locals. Stating that Gilgit-Baltistan is entering the national
mainstream for the first time, Syed Sohail Abbas Shah, Advisor Board of
Revenue, Law & Prosecution, Gilgit Baltistan, thus argued,
As long as the word ‘provisional’ remains with our province, the whole
region will be exempt from taxes, wheat subsidy will be maintained and
we will get all the benefits that the people of other parts of the country
will get.
However, there is strong opposition to the move as well, among those

who see cynicism underpinning Islamabad designs. Amjad Ayub Mirza,
a human rights activist from Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK)
currently living in exile in the United Kingdom wrote, on February 26,
2022,
Gilgit-Baltistan and her dry port of Sost at the Pak-China border right up
to the seaport of Gwadar in Balochistan are key to China’s economic
expansionist design. The militant insurgency in Balochistan has brought
the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC) to a standstill. A massive
military operation allegedly supervised by the Chinese PLA [People’s
Liberation Army] is underway to crush Baloch rebels. It is in this
backdrop that China has been exerting pressure on the Pakistan
government to make sure that CPEC is made foolproof in Gilgit-
Baltistan. Pakistan’s solution is to make PoGB [Pakistan occupied Gilgit-
Baltistan] into its 5th province and take full control of the administrative
matters along with intensifying its plunder of our natural resources.
Under the current circumstances granting mining licenses to non-
residents in PoGB has become a great cause for concern for locals who
have been protesting for months and demand cancellation of any
mining licenses issued to aliens. This hampers the loot of natural
resources of Gilgit-Baltistan by Chinese companies, most of which are
state-owned. By incorporating PoGB into Pakistan’s federal set up it will
become possible to impose direct rule from Islamabad and anyone
could be granted a mining license. Another aspect of Pakistan’s attempt
to incorporate PoGB into Pakistan stems from China’s need to gain
access to clean water from our glaciers… China’s major rivers Yangtze
and Yellow River are polluted hence they cannot be used for
manufacturing semiconductors. Semiconductors are used extensively in
mobile phones, cars, fighter jets, satellites and even naval ships. Hence
whoever will dominate the manufacture of semiconductors in the world
market will rule the digital world. ‘Chinese strategists were interested in
Shaksgam Valley, which is home to over 242 glaciers’. It is, therefore,
important for China to control the waters flowing into PoGB.
Further, highlighting the loot of the Gilgit-Baltistan people, other

speakers at the December 9, 2021, Conference claimed that there were
no benefits for local people from the projects being developed in the
area. They further claimed that their resources were being plundered
and alleged their voices were suppressed if they demanded their rights.
Indeed, hundreds of political workers, social activists and religious

leaders from Gilgit-Baltistan have been put under a ‘watch list’ in the
name of terrorism. Most recently, in June 2021, a total of 36 people
from Gilgit-Baltistan were added in the National Counter Terrorism
Authority (NACTA) Schedule IV (proscribed persons) data. These
included former member of Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, Didar
Ali; incumbent legislator, Ghulam Shehzad, a former nationalist leader
and current Pakistan People’s Party member; and prominent clerics, like
Sheikh Mirza Ali, Sheikh Bilal Summairi and Agha Syed Ali Rizvi. A
majority of the people listed were from Gilgit District. According to
NACTA, actions taken against people listed under Scheduled 4 include a
passport embargo, freezing of bank accounts, ban on financial support,
loans and credit cards, and an arms license embargo. Meanwhile,
protests demanding the release of political leaders like Manzoor
Parwana and Hasnain Ramal continue.
Despite the charade of local endorsement of the joint resolution by the

Gilgit Baltistan Assembly, protests against the Government have
become a routine. According to an October 21, 2021, report, a large
number of people comprising members of a regional political party,
Awami Action Committee, and rights activists gathered in Gilgit to
oppose the Federal Government’s design of expanding its political
control over the region under the garb of the provisional-provincial
status.
Gilgit-Baltistan provides China a gateway to Pakistan, as it is the only

area in Pakistan that shares a border with China. The region also shares
borders with Afghanistan, and is consequently strategically important
for China. Also, China is in the process of investing in several projects in
Gilgit-Baltistan under the CPEC project, including the Moqpondass
Special Economic Zone, about 40 kilometers from Gilgit city. However,
none of these projects have benefited the people of Gilgit-Baltistan,
who, in fact, continue to lack basic facilities such as food sufficiency and
adequate electricity supply to deal with the harsh winters. The
unemployment rate is very high and, according to a report published in
Dawn on January 23, 2021,
The main reason for this is lack of awareness, poverty and an

inadequate education system. According to a report, each year nearly
5,000 students graduate from GB [Gilgit-Baltistan]. Unfortunately, no
more than 500 of them are able to secure jobs.
People of the region have also realized the Chinses vested interest in
the region and have been opposing Chinese projects vehemently. Anti-
CPEC protests are regular feature. On January 15, 2021, massive
protests erupted in the region over the Chinese move to build a 33-
kilometer road. Amjad Ayub Mirza noted, “China is now building a road
from Yarkand [China] of 33 km [kilometers] wide enough to bring its
artillery, military and personnel. Things are gearing up in a precarious
way, but PoJK people have risen up to the occasion. There will be more
protests in PoJK.”
Moreover, on January 11, 2022, the Gilgit-Baltistan-based Awami Action

Committee protested in Skardu against repeated and prolonged power
shedding and a crisis of food items. The protestors claimed that the
Governments (of Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan) had failed to deliver even
the basic necessities of life to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
According to a January 28, 2022, report, people in Gilgit-Baltistan held a

protest against forced land acquisition by the Pakistani Army in village
Nopura, Gilgit. The protestors threw stones at Army personnel and
chanted anti-Army slogans. A February 15, 2022, report stated that
people in Nasirabad, Hunza, Islamabad, and Karachi held
demonstrations against the grabbing of mineral resources and lands in
different districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, mainly in Hunza. On November 24,
2021, opposition members in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly protested
the ‘blocking’ of the vote on a resolution demanding the repeal of
Khalsa Sarkar (state land) laws. The resolution declared that Khalsa
Sarkar laws, which were applicable in all the districts of Gilgit-Baltistan,
were against the Constitution of Pakistan and Islamic principles and
Gilgit-Baltistan people’s right to property had been usurped for many
decades under the law implemented since 1979.
Meanwhile, the threat or terrorism persists. Nisar Shah Advocate

stated, “they are under threat of a growing influence of religious
fanatics and an emergence of Afghanistan-like situation in the region.”
He added that religious extremist organizations are regrouping in PoK
and some parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, and warned that if the state did not
change its present narrative and soft corner towards religious extremist
organisations, this would fuel more extremism in the region.
Jamil Maqsood, Secretary Foreign Affairs Committee, United Kashmir

People’s National Party, asserted on February 20, 2022, “without
liberation of PoJK and Gilgit Baltistan from the yoke of Pakistan, it is
impossible to control the menace of terrorism.”
Significantly, on July 7, 2021, a video surfaced in which the ‘second-in-

command’ of Mujahideen Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan, Habib ur
Rehman, and his accomplices were seen holding an ‘open court’ at the
polo ground at Babusar Top in Diamer District. The ‘court’ went on
through the day with heavily armed Islamist terrorists taking turns to
address the locals. Senior police officials of Gilgit-Baltistan confirmed
that Maulvi Abdul Hameed was the leader of the group. The group has
anointed itself as the authority in Gilgit-Baltistan. Habib ur Rehman was
involved in the killing of 11 persons, including 10 foreign mountaineers,
at Nanga Parbat on June 23, 2013. Though he was arrested, he
managed to escape from Gilgit Jail in 2015.
Though no terrorism-related fatality has taken place in Gilgit-Baltistan

since July 28, 2020 – when five Counter-Terrorism Department
personnel were killed and another five were injured during an exchange
of fire with terrorists at Rohnai Muhallah, Chilas town, Diamer District –
it is useful to recall that, since March 6, 2000, when the South Asia
Terrorism Portal (SATP) started compiling data on conflicts in Pakistan,
the region has accounted for a total of 175 fatalities, including 118
civilians, 31 Security Force (SF) personnel and 26 terrorists. A high of 60
fatalities, including 52 civilians and eight SF personnel, was recorded in
2005. Further, of 81 banned terrorist formations in Pakistan, several
operate out of and in the PoK region. The prominent among these
include the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), the
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Ahl-e-Sunnat-wal-Jamaat (ASWJ) the
front organisation of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), and the
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
As expected, instead of taking measures to deal with the emerging

security challenges and other problems faced by the people in the
region, Islamabad is engaged in accelerating the process of its ‘final
annexation’ of Gilgit-Baltistan. The suffering of the people of the region
is likely to continue, indeed, intensify.
*Ajit Kumar Singh

Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
FacebookTwitterEmailFlipboardMastodonShare
SATP
SATP, or the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) publishes the South Asia
Intelligence Review, and is a product of The Institute for Conflict
Management, a non-Profit Society set up in 1997 in New Delhi, and
which is committed to the continuous evaluation and resolution of
problems of internal security in South Asia. The Institute was set up on
the initiative of, and is presently headed by, its President, Mr. K.P.S. Gill,
IPS (Retd).
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Rocket attack by Hamas Palestinian militants on Israel. Photo Credit:

Mehr News Agency
An Unprovoked, Coordinated Hamas Attack On Israel: What We Know –
OpEd
October 9, 2023 0
By Dave Patterson On Saturday, October 7, the world saw just how
heinous Hamas terrorism can be when supported by
File photo of members of Hamas posing with Qassam rockets. Photo

Credit: Tasnim News Agency
The Geopolitics Behind Hamas’ Unprecedented Attacks On Israel –
Analysis
October 9, 2023 0
Dove Of Peace Peace Dove Hand Keep Soap Bubble
Who Or What Will Do What Must Be Done? – OpEd
October 9, 2023 0
Soldier Map Middle East Army War Military Weapon
Hamas’s Attack On Israel: New Escalation Of Tensions In The Middle East
– Analysis
October 9, 2023 0
Recent Comments
Wade on Israel Officially Declares War On Hamas After Surprise Attack
Jamie Blair on The Flames Of Hamas, Israel, Apartheid, And Palestine –
OpEd
Muhammed. On How Hamas Outsmarted Israel’s Top Intelligence
Agencies – OpEd
Vicki Valkanas on Magnitsky Case Triggered Putin’s Turn From The West
Toward China – OpEd
Search
Copyright Eurasia Review. (ISSN 2330-717X) All rights are reserved.
Follow us on: facebook twitter Mastodon

Gilgit Baltistan

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gilgit Baltistan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

EPAPER

Three developments in recent years kindled a ray of hope for the

Second, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its judgement of January

Third, the government of prime minister Imran Khan announced in

We shouldn’t adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach to GB.

The Kashmir dispute is an unfinished agenda of the partition of British

Meanwhile, the constitutional status of GB as a part of Pakistan has

Those arguing for integrating GB with Pakistan contend that the

Yet, it can be argued that integrating GB could have implications for

What we cannot and should not do is to adopt a ‘wait and see

The writer, a former foreign secretary, is director general of the Institute

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2022

Top News Stories: 198 Palestinians Killed As Israel Responds To Hamas

Scribe Publishing Platform

In order to understand why the two regions of Gilgit Baltistan and

After 16 days of independent rule, they announced accession to the

Moving on, to understand the status of GB under international law we

At this point, it is essential to emphasize the steps taken by Pakistan to

In addition, the PMLN-led Government established a special committee

In a subsequent case, headed by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr.

To conclude, in light of the arguments raised, facts presented, and

[1] Ali Usman, ‘Gilgit Ka Inqalab [The Revolution of Gilgit],’ Sang-e-Meel

[3] Martin Sökefeld, ‘Jang azadi: Perspectives on a Major Theme in

Ahmed Hasan Dani, ‘History of Northern Areas of Pakistan,’ Sang-e-

[4]Aziz Ali Dad, ‘Boundaries and Identities: The Case of Gilgit-Baltistan,’

Note: Prof. Hermann Kreutzmann, a German Geographer, has

[7] Caylee Hong, ‘Law and Liminality in Gilgit-Baltistan: Managing

[8] The draconic Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which remained

[9] Shoukat Ali Kashmiri, ‘Granting provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan is

[10] The UN Resolution of 13 August, 1948, article 3

[13] Civil Aviation Case-2019

[14] ‘Gilgit-Baltistan and international law,’ The World Times (Published

[15] Iftikhar A. Khan, ‘SC approves draft Gilgit-Baltistan governance

[16] Afzal Shigri, ‘Institute of Policy Studies’ Eighth Meeting on Kashmir.’

Author: Karim Ahmed

Policing Organized Crime: The Police Order (Amendment) Ordinance,

A Child’s Right to the Environment – An Examination of CRC General

Chandrayaan and the need to Demilitarise Science in Pakistan

The Ultimate High Ground

Policing Organized Crime: The Police Order (Amendment) Ordinance,

A Child’s Right to the Environment – An Examination of CRC General

Chandrayaan and the need to Demilitarise Science in Pakistan

Azad Jammu & Kashmir and International Law

Azad Jammu & Kashmir Diaspora: Strength, challenges, and a way

Tel: 051 2831033, 8739300

Pakistan’s international position as of August 14, 1947, is that GB is part

Pakistan’s decision to merge GB with Kashmir was based on the

GB’s people are unanimous in their demand for constitutional rights, as

GET THE NEWSLETTER

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access.

On November 1, 2020, then-Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his

If the proposed constitutional amendment bill is passed by Parliament,

Any such move, however, is not without its challenges. On the

The rightful demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan for constitutional

You have read 3 of your 5 free articles this month.

Enjoy full access to the website and get an automatic subscription to

Already a subscriber? Login here

© 2023 DIPLOMAT MEDIA INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Enraged people demand answers after a teacher is shot dead in broad

Before discussing whether it is possible to make Gilgit Baltistan the fifth

At the present time, Gilgit Baltistan is a party to the Kashmir issue. GB

In 1948 foreign minister Zafarullah Khan maintained the same stance

The making of Gilgit Baltistan a fifth province of Pakistan Is a tough

Social media is the fourth pillar of Gilgit-Baltistan