Eighth Meeting of IPS’ Working Group on Kashmir

Gilgit-Baltistan
(GB) cannot be delinked from the Kashmir issue as the territory would be
included in the plebiscite mandated by UN resolutions, whenever it is
conducted. However, the people of the region need better governance and
constitutional rights. To this end, GB should be provisionally
granted the status of a province and this move would not create any legal hurdle in the way of the international commitments
of Pakistan for the region vis-à-vis Kashmir issue.

These views were expressed by the participants of the eighth meeting of the
Institute of Policy Studies’ Working Group on Kashmir (IPS-WGK) which was held
on July 13, 2020. The event included a presentation by Afzal Ali Shigri, former
Inspector General of Police, on ‘Significance of Gilgit-Baltistan in Kashmir
Issue: Past, Present and Future’.

The session was chaired by Executive President IPS Khalid Rahman and hosted by
Farzana Yaqoob, IPS Associate, Secretary IPS-WGK and former AJ&K Minister.
The participants included senior security analyst Brig (r) Said Nazeer Mohmand,
Ambassador (r) Ishtiaq Andrabi, Naufil Shahrukh, GM
Operations IPS and Syed Muhammad Ali, Senior
Research Fellow.

The discussants were of the opinion that an innovative approach is needed to
resolve the issue of status of GB. One such solution is to provisionally accord
the area the status of a province of Pakistan as this would not cause any
international or legal hitches nor would it create any problems for the Kashmir
cause. Another proposal is to legally merge GB and Azad Jammu and Kashmir
(AJ&K) while granting them the right of self-governance with the status of
two regions, one state. An interesting solution could be AJ&K and GB having
their own governments with separate lower houses but a unified upper house
having representatives from both territories. This would need concurrence of
the people from both sides.

Shigri has been a member of a group formed by Chief Justice of AJ&K Justice
(r) Syed Manzoor Gilani to prepare proposals regarding the status of GB. He
said these proposals were forwarded to the Government of Pakistan suggesting
that the best option is provisional status of province.

Shigri said the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly has twice adopted
resolutions demanding that the territory should be given the status of a
province of Pakistan. However, the Government of Pakistan advised against such
a demand stating that it could negatively impact Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir.

Shigri said the people of GB are ‘fiercely’ Pakistanis.
If India tries to make any move against GB, the local people would fight it
tooth and nail similar to the spirit shown during the Kargil conflict, he
added.

He stressed that it is critical for the
government of Pakistan to create a constitutional and legal linkage with GB as it is
extremely sensitive and important because Pakistan is constructing a dam there
and CPEC also passes through the area. This would also help resolve serious
issues regarding higher education, health facilities, funds for infrastructure,
land rights, displaced people, local representation, royalty, etc.

Khalid Rahman, citing a book authored by, among others, Justice (r) Manzoor
Gilani and Afzal Shigri, said they have shown the way forward for resolving the
GB issue by proposing amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan and Jammu and
Kashmir Interim Constitution Act. The issue has been continuously raised during
the periods of different governments but never resolved because of lame excuses
put forward by certain quarters. This also shows extreme weakness of
governance, he added.

He said the GB issue should not be seen as the problem of the people of a
particular territory but rather as that of the whole country. It is a matter of
concern that GB, which is a part of Pakistan for all practical purposes, has
constitutionally not been given the importance that it deserves. This is not
helped by the fact that the information level regarding the dynamics of GB’s
problems is rather low not just at the public but even at the political level.

Andrabi was of the view that the people of GB should be directly asked their
opinion about being part of Pakistan and the government should not have any
hesitation in carrying out the required move.

Farzana said the government of AJK should be more proactive in connecting with
GB. Contacts at not only at official level but also people-to-people
interactions are necessary in this regard.

In
2015 the government constituted a committee headed by Sartaj Aziz, the then
advisor to the PM on foreign affairs, that included all stakeholders to look
into GB’s constitutional future. Its report stated that there is absolutely no
bar to designate this area as part of Pakistan provisionally with the status of
a province, they should be given representation in parliament, and provided all
the rights and privileges enjoyed by citizens. However, no action was taken on
these recommendations.