ISLAMABAD: When we talk about constitutional and legal rights, we are told that Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is a ‘disputed area’, but when it comes to our resources, the federal government accesses them at will.

This was said by Advocate Dr Amjad Hussain, a former member of the GB Council, on Friday. He demanded that the people of GB be given legal and fundamental rights equal to Pakistani citizens.

Hussain was addressing a seminar on ‘Participatory federalism and citizens empowerment’, organised by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Studies Quaid-i-Azam University.

Discussing the amendment to the Constitution to ensure GB’s participation and representation in the federation of Pakistan, he said due to the area’s longstanding ‘limbo’ status, the local youth were growing increasingly discontent.

“Our people pay huge taxes but their fundamental and legal rights are not incorporated into the Constitution of Pakistan,” he said.

Hussain explained that when the federal government incorporated GB into the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) resolution, it stated that until the Kashmir dispute was settled, the governments of India and Pakistan would administer the areas with local authority.

Under the resolution, Pakistan was to administer the affairs of GB and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with local authorities, while India was to administer the affairs of Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir (with local authorities).

“But in 1948, India incorporated Jammu and Kashmir into its constitution, giving representation to the Kashmiri people in the Lok Saba and Rajia Saba. Though India has been committing severe human rights violation in Jammu, they incorporated Jammu into the constitution, protecting the legal rights of Jammu’s citizens,” Hussain said. He added that Pakistan, however, didn’t give any space to GB in its Constitution.

“The federation provided a separate setup in AJK without incorporating it into Pakistan’s Constitution while [GB’s] status is still in limbo... this is an injustice to the people of the mineral-rich GB.”

He said through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the federal government had signed 51 agreements with China, “but none of it is for GB.”

He added: “We don’t have representation in the Senate and National Assembly which is why nobody is taking up our case. If we had representation, we would have been able to get our fair share in the economic projects under the CPEC.”

Hussain said if the people of GB were eligible to join the Pakistan Army, they were also capable of contributing towards the development of their region by participating in the political system. “We must be given representation in the Senate and National Assembly,” he concluded.

Journalist Rauf Klasra said the 18th Amendment could not be seen as a ‘fate-changer’ for Pakistani citizens.

“No doubt after the 18th Amendment, power has been devolved to provinces, but now provincial governments have become dictators when it comes to the equal distribution of resources to districts.” He said that without local government functioning at a local level, empowering citizens was an impracticable task.

He said provincial autonomy must not be used as an excuse to not devolve power to local level.

Discussing the country’s political setup, Klasra said Pakistan’s fate was in the hands of businessmen.

“Majority of our politicians are businessmen who don’t want to empower citizens,” he said.

He claimed that the recent hype over unhygienic meat was allegedly meant to protect the business of a politician who was indirectly running a slaughterhouse.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd , 2015

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