The News Islamabad published my following article on
November 17, 2003.
Ershad Mahmud
I am forwarding this article for your perusal.
With best wishes,
Ershad Mahmud
Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad
Tel: 051-2650971-3 Fax:051-2650704
Cell: 03005132375 Home: 051----
Alternate email: [email protected]
56 years of NA after freedom
Almost 56 years ago, Pakistan took over the
administrative control of
Gilgit-Baltistan on November 16, 1947, to be very
exact. However, it
was
only four years back that the apex court in its
historic verdict asked
the
federal government to grant the people of the area all
those
politico-economic and administrative rights which are
otherwise
enshrined in
the constitution of the country. The verdict, even
after the lapse of
over
four years now, still remains to be implemented to
give one million
people
of the area their fundamental human, political and
economic rights.
Needless
to mention here that unlike Azad Kashmir and other
four provinces of
the
country, the people of NAs have neither well-defined
constitutional
status
nor representation in the legislative or national
assemblies.
In an utter disregard to Supreme Court decision, the
government has so
far
taken not substantive but only few cosmetic steps in
this regard which
include renaming of Northern Areas Council as
'Northern Areas
Legislative
Council' and the authorisation to it to legislate on
40 items.
Similarly,
Council's membership was raised to 29. This granted,
the point to be
noted
here is that the elected deputy chief executive was
not authorised to
transfer officers above grade 18, specifically deputy
commissioner or
the
superintendent of police. For that prior approval of
the chief
secretary was
made necessary. Resultantly, all significant powers
still vest with
either
federal minister for kashmir affairs or northern areas
who also happens
to
be the chief executive of the area or chief secretary,
who is merely a
government servant. Although there is a council and
elected deputy
chief
executive but a non-elected federal minister
practically runs the whole
affair.
Different stakeholders at different times have
submitted many valuable
proposals about how to determine the status of these
areas and granting
constitutional rights to them. However, thanks to its
geographical and
historical links with the Kashmir dispute, the issue
has failed to
attract
enough attention at the national level. Today, rather
than putting it
on the
back burner, it needs to be addressed at the highest
level since any
further
delay in granting the basic rights to the people may
further aggravate
the
prevailing sense of deprivation.
Historically speaking, Pakistan's official policy
towards this issue
has
been riddled by confusion and uncertainty. This laxity
on the part of
government became brazenly obvious after late 1980s.
The primary
reasons
being the strategic importance of the region and the
obsession of a
section
of people in the government of Pakistan to see the
area merged with
Pakistan. About Gilgit Agency in particular, the
interior and foreign
ministries have been thinking on different lines since
the day one. The
former argues that the Agency has not been under
administrative control
of
Maharajah Kashmir as the British held and administered
it like other
political agencies of the tribal areas. Hence, with
the British gone,
Gilgit
Agency automatically got transferred to Pakistan.
Another historic fact
is
that Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, the first Chief Minister
of NWFP and a
Kashmiri
descendent, had proposed in 1947 that Gilgit Agency be
transferred to
Governor NWFP, like any tribal area so that over a
period of time it
becomes
part of North West Frontier Province.
The foreign office did not agree to the proposal at
that time. It felt
that
be it for only name sake Maharaja Kashmir did exercise
authority over
Gilgit. It should, therefore, not be considered
independent of the
state of
Jammu and Kashmir. Also, the possibility of plebiscite
under the
auspices of
United Nations was still there. Thus, why should the
Gilgit Agency's
"vote
bank" be lost?
The above mentioned dilemma still persists, and can be
seen in the
initiatives taken by various government agencies in
their respective
spheres. Gilgit Agency is at times shown in the Survey
of Pakistan maps
as
part of Pakistan while at other occasions it is
clubbed with the
disputed
state of Jammu and Kashmir.
On the domestic front, the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs
blocked
political
parties of Azad Kashmir to extend their branches into
Gilgit and
Baltistan.
As some top-level policy-makers have been privately
expressing that
there
was the possibility of Kashmir getting independent or
some such other
arrangement that would also include Northern Areas. In
such a
situation,
Pakistan will be deprived of these areas of strategic
importance as
well. On
the other hand, there is the will to liberate whole
Kashmir, for which
a
struggle is already there. Therefore, the government
of Pakistan seems
to
have no clear-cut stand and is faced with a catch 22
situation. As a
result
the sufferings of the people of the Northern Areas go
on unmitigated
The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs has been enjoying
exclusive powers to
rule
these areas since 1950. Most of the people
representing the political
leadership of the Northern Areas, are of the view that
such
extraordinary
powers are unprecedented in the history of the country
and, to maintain
the
status quo, constitutional ambiguity about the areas
is being
maintained
deliberately. They claim that it is this ambiguity
that creates a
vacuum of
political system and gives the bureaucrats an
opportunity to directly
rule
the area. They also hold that the general resentment
prevailing in the
people is in fact due to lack of the vision of the
ministry's officials
which result in ill-conceived policies and mishandling
of different
issues.
As a result the issues of people's rights remain
unsettled.
Since long, the public opinion finds itself visibly
divided regarding
the
NA's administrative and political set up. In fact the
sectarian
differences
among the people have played a devastating role in
this regard. Shias,
Sunnis and Ismailis are the three major sects residing
in the area.
They
have been supporting diverse solutions to the
problem.. Bureaucracy has
also
been exploiting their immature political postures and
termed them
politically naive and unable to run their affairs on
their own.
Now the situation has completely changed and all
political parties have
formed a joint forum namely Gilgit-Baltistan National
Alliance to
unanimously demand for self-rule. The establishment of
this alliance
must be
appreciated and the strategy it has embarked upon also
sound workable
to get
round the Islamabad. The alliance demands seem quite
reasonable and are
in
no way in conflict with the national interests of the
country.
Moreover,
they also do not impinge upon the interests of Kashmir
cause by any
stretch
of imagination. The Alliance seeks that Northern Areas
should have
special
status, similar to the AJ&K. It has minced no words to
express its
discontent with the present council and government
structure. As per
its
demands, legally NA's would remain part of the state
of Jammu and
Kashmir
but practically under the federal control. Thus, for
local
administration,
there would be elected legislative council, elected
chief executive and
independent judiciary. Needless to mention, this is
not something like
asking for moon but for the same fundamental rights
which are enjoyed
by
citizens in any other part of the country or in AJK.
Of late, Islamabad has been on the back-foot on NA's
status in the
international forums. Pakistan and its lobbyists find
themselves in
quite an
awkward position when Indian and other international
media persons
raise the
question that why Islamabad is so desperate to get
right of
self-determination for the Kashmiris living under
Indian control but is
least bothered to grant basic rights to the people of
NA. Thus,
precisely
speaking, it is high time for President Pervez
Musharraf to ignore the
bureaucratic tactics and take a decision at his
personal level to end
the
federal rule in the larger interest of the country.
The writer specialises on dynamics of Kashmir conflict
and
India-Pakistan
relations and is working with Institute of Policy
Studies
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