Daily Times

The people of Gilgit Baltistan acceded to Pakistan unconditionally after liberating their area from Dogras on 1 November 1947. Immediately after the arrest of governor Ghansara Singh, the Pakistan flag was raised,and the Government of Pakistan was asked to take over the area. It is unique in the history of the world that the people of Gilgit Baltistan liberated their area without any foreign support and acceded to Pakistan. For the Government of Pakistan, Gilgit Baltistan is a disputed territory because of resolutions of United Nations Security Councils (UNSC) on Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of Pakistan is of the view that in case of a plebiscite, the people of Gilgit Baltistan would vote in its favour. Since 1947, successive governments introduced different packages. The area remained under Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) after liberation, and in 1969 a Northern Area Advisory Council (NAAC) was created with eight members without any powers under a resident as administrator. The first significant political, administrative and judicial reforms were introduced in 1975. In 1999, the Northern Area Council was renamed as Northern Area Legislative Assembly (NALA). Major steps in this regard were taken in 2009 when Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009 was introduced, which gavea type of self-rule and province-like status. The ‘Northern Area’ was renamed as ‘Gilgit Baltistan’, thereby giving an identity to the people of the area. Through this ordinance, a 16-member Gilgit Baltistan Council was created with the Prime Minister of Pakistan as its chairman with absolute powers. In the council, the majority of representation was from the federal government, and only six members were taken from Gilgit Baltistan. The Council had the power to legislate on 52 important subjects like mining, tourism, taxes, highways and water resources. Recently, in a historic decision, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan approved in principle the annulment of Gilgit Baltistan Council.

The popular demand in GB is a merger with Pakistan, making GB the country’s fifth province

This was an unexpected decision by the prime minister being the powerful chairman of Gilgit Baltistan Council. All the powers exercised by Gilgit Baltistan Council are now being transferred to Gilgit Baltistan Assembly. Reportedly, the Kashmir Affairs Ministry tried its best to deter the PM from taking this historic decision. According to the local media, the Sartaj Aziz Committee has recommended representation in parliament, Indus River System Authority (IRSA), the National Economic Council (NEC) and in the National Finance Commission (NFC). As per the reports, the annulment of Gilgit Baltistan Council was taken after a lot of deliberations on the recommendations of Sartaj Aziz Committee. With this new reforms, Gilgit Baltistan assembly will be totally independent and powerful. With the new reform/package, which isyet to be announced formally by the prime minister, the Gilgit Baltistan government will be in a position to establish/execute public service commission, appoint Judges, Auditor General, Inland Revenue System and other development projects in the field of tourism, mining and hydroelectricity. Such reforms will reduce dependence on the federal government with the exploration of hidden mineral in the area to be at par with other provinces. The people of Gilgit Baltistan are extremely sincere and loyal to Pakistan, andthis is evident from its unconditional accession to Pakistan, wars of 1948,’65,’71, Siachen, Kargil and the war on terror. There is no anti-Pakistan sentiment in Gilgit Baltistan, be it for the imposition of taxes oridentity. There is no anti-Pakistan slogan across Gilgit Baltistan, and there has not been a single opposition/protest against China and the CPEC. The Indian media never misses an opportunity to air false propaganda to show fabricated anti-Pakistan stories. Recently, in a massive rally, the Awami Action Committee denied allegations by Indian media that the strike was against new taxes and was not anti-state. These strikes were portrayed as anti-state protests by the Indian media. The prime minister was supposed to announce the reforms package after a week of announcing the annulment of Gilgit Baltistan Council. Nothing has materialised so far as there is complete silence on the proposed package. Further delay in announcing the package based on Sartaj Aziz Committee may create doubts and confusion. The so-called sub-nationalists may exploit the situation to their benefit, although they do not enjoy any significant support in Gilgit Baltistan. The popular demand in Gilgit Baltistan is a merger with Pakistan and Gilgit Baltistan becoming the fifth province of the country. The people of Gilgit Baltistan want their identity with Pakistan. This can be done by giving GB the provisional status with taking all stakeholders on board, linking it with the final settlement of Kashmir issue.This would bring an end to the identity crises.

The writer is a retired brigadier and currently commissioner of the Afghan Refugees Organisation, Balochistan

Published in Daily Times, March 31^st2018.