Northern Areas: Gilgit and Baltistan
(JR213)
Introduction:
After Pakistan's
independence, Jammu and Kashmir initially remained an independent state. Later
on 22 October 1947, tribal militias backed by Pakistan crossed the border into
Jammu and Kashmir Local tribal militias and the Pakistani armed forces moved to take Srinagar but on reaching Uri they encountered defensive forces. Hari Singh made a plea to India for assistance and signed the Instrument of Accession.
Gilgit Action
Gilgit's
population did not favour the State's accession to India. The Muslims of the Frontier Districts Province (modern day Gilgit-Baltistan)
had wanted to join Pakistan. Sensing their discontent, Major William Brown ( the
major part was played by Muslim Officers nd the British Officer later joined in
) , the Maharaja's commander of the Gilgit Scouts, mutinied on 1 November 1947, overthrowing the Governor Ghansara Singh.
The bloodless coup d'etat was
planned by Col. Hasan Khan, to the last detail under the code name
"Datta Khel", which was also joined by a rebellious section of the
Jammu and Kashmir 6th Infantry under Mirza Hassan Khan. Brown ensured that the
treasury was secured and minorities were protected. A provisional government (Aburi Hakoomat) was established by
the Gilgit locals with Raja Shah Rais Khan as the president and Mirza Hassan
Khan as the commander-in-chief. However, Major Brown had already telegraphed Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan asking Pakistan
to take over. The Pakistani political agent, Khan Mohammad Alam Khan, arrived
on 16 November and took over the administration of Gilgit. Brown outmaneuvered the pro-Independence group
and secured the approval of the mirs and rajas for accession to Pakistan.
Provincial
Government
The provisional
government lasted 16 days. The provisional government lacked sway over the
population. The Gilgit rebellion did not have civilian involvement and was
solely the work of military leaders, not all of whom had been in favor of
joining Pakistan, at least in the short term. Historian Ahmed Hasan
Dani mentions that although there was a lack of public
participation in the rebellion, pro-Pakistan sentiments were intense in the
civilian population and their anti-Kashmiri sentiments were also clear. According to
various scholars, the people of Gilgit as well as those of Chilas, Koh Ghizr,
Ishkoman, Yasin, Punial, Hunza and Nagar joined Pakistan by choice.
Ladakh Action
After taking
control of Gilgit, the Gilgit Scouts along with Azad irregulars moved towards Baltistan and Ladakh and captured Skardu by May 1948. They successfully blocked the Indian
reinforcements and subsequently captured Dras and Kargil as well, cutting off the Indian communications to Leh in
Ladakh. The Indian forces mounted an offensive in Autumn 1948 and recaptured
all of Kargil district. Baltistan region, however, came under Gilgit control.
UN
On 1 January
1948, India took the issue of Jammu and Kashmir to the United Nations Security Council. In April 1948, the Council passed a resolution calling for Pakistan to
withdraw from all of Jammu and Kashmir and India to reduce its forces to the
minimum level, following which a plebiscite would be held to ascertain the
people's wishes. However, no withdrawal was ever carried out, India
insisting that Pakistan had to withdraw first and Pakistan contending that
there was no guarantee that India would withdraw afterwards. Gilgit-Baltistan and a western portion of the state
called Azad Jammu and Kashmir have remained
under the control of Pakistan since then.
Inside Pakistan
While
the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan expressed a desire to join Pakistan after
gaining independence from Maharaja Hari Singh, Pakistan declined to merge the
region into itself because of the territory's link to Jammu and Kashmir. For a short period after joining Pakistan,
Gilgit-Baltistan was governed by Azad Kashmir if
only "theoretically, but not practically" through its claim of being
an alternative government for Jammu and Kashmir. In 1949, the Government of Azad Kashmir handed
administration of the area to the federal government via the Karachi Agreement,
on an interim basis which gradually assumed permanence. According to Indian
journalist Sahni, this is seen as an effort by Pakistan to legitimize its rule
over Gilgit-Baltistan
There
were two reasons why administration was transferred from Azad Kashmir to
Pakistan: (1) the region was inaccessible to Azad Kashmir and (2) because both
the governments of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan knew that the people of the region
were in favour of joining Pakistan in a potential referendum over Kashmir's
final status
In
1970 the two parts of the territory, viz., the Gilgit Agency
and Baltistan,
were merged into a single administrative unit, and given the name
"Northern Areas".[ The Shaksgam tract was ceded by Pakistan to China following the
signing of the Sino-Pakistani Frontier Agreement in 1963. In 1969, a Northern Areas Advisory Council
(NAAC) was created, later renamed to Northern Areas Council (NAC) in 1974 and
Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC) in 1994. But it was devoid of
legislative powers. All law-making was concentrated in the KANA Ministry of
Pakistan. In 1994, a Legal Framework Order (LFO) was created by the KANA
Ministry to serve as the de facto
constitution for the region.
In
1984 the territory's importance shot up on the domestic level with the opening
of the Karakoram Highway and the region's population came to be more connected
with mainland Pakistan. With the improvement in connectivity, the local
population availed education opportunities in the rest of Pakistan. Improved
connectivity also allowed the political parties of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir to
set up local branches, raise political awareness in the region, and these
Pakistani political parties have played a 'laudable role' in organising a
movement for democratic rights among the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In
the late 1990s, the President of Al-Jihad Trust filed a petition in the Supreme
Court of Pakistan to determine the legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan. In its
judgement of 28 May 1999, the Court directed the Government of Pakistan to
ensure the provision of equal rights to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, and
gave it six months to do so. Following the Supreme Court decision, the
government took several steps to devolve power to the local level. However, in
several policy circles, the point was raised that the Pakistani government was
helpless to comply with the court verdict because of the strong political and
sectarian divisions in Gilgit-Baltistan and also because of the territory's
historical connection with the still disputed Kashmir region and this prevented
the determination of Gilgit-Baltistan's real status.[
A
position of 'Deputy Chief Executive' was created to act as the local
administrator, but the real powers still rested with the 'Chief Executive', who
was the Federal Minister of KANA. "The secretaries were more powerful than
the concerned advisors," in the words of one commentator. In spite of
various reforms packages over the years, the situation is essentially unchanged[
Meanwhile, public rage in Gilgit-Baltistan is "growing
alarmingly." Prominent "antagonist groups" have mushroomed
protesting the absence of civic rights and democracy. Pakistan
government has been debating the grant of a provincial status to
Gilgit-Baltistan.
According
to Antia Mato Bouzas, the PPP-led Pakistani government has attempted a
compromise through its 2009 reforms between its traditional stand on the
Kashmir dispute and the demands of locals, most of whom may have pro-Pakistan
sentiments. While the 2009 reforms have added to the self-identification of the
region, they have not resolved the constitutional status of the region within
Pakistan.
The
people of Gilgit-Baltistan want to be merged into Pakistan as a separate fifth
province, however, leaders of Azad Kashmir are
opposed to any step to integrate Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan. The
people of Gilgit-Baltistan oppose any integration with Kashmir and instead want
Pakistani citizenship and constitutional status for their region. Gilgit-Baltistan has been a member state of
the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples
Organization since 2008.
Supreme Court Of Pakistan
The
Supreme Court of Pakistan’s recent verdict on the constitutional status of
Gilgit-Baltistan, declaring it an inseparable part of the Kashmir issue and the
inability due to international law governing it, to assimilate the region into
the body-politics of the Pakistani state, has once and for all laid to rest the
confusion over the region’s political status, especially within the minds of
the masses of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) itself. The urgency displayed at times by
certain elements to unconditionally absorb the region into the Pakistani state,
not only defied legal logic and historical processes but also undermined
contemporary imperatives of preserving the region’s core indigenous rights and
identity, especially in the milieu of a shifting strategic calculus.
The
verdict has set the ball rolling for a reset of the region’s relationship with
Islamabad especially in the popular imagination — something that was
earlier missing or made to be irrelevant. The various lacunae in the CPEC
framework with regards to the region if not addressed prudently especially in
terms of local rights and share in development could sharpen the emerging
fissures between ambitions of the Pakistani state and the indigenous
aspirations of the region. The evident prejudice in the projected windfall of
CPEC towards GB beyond the extractive transit route (Karakoram Highway — KKH)
could bring to the fore the hitherto veiled deprivation institutionalized in
the “management” of the region. While not much ground has been lost yet,
unattended fault lines could prove an inflicting inflection point.
Conclusion
The spirit of Jihad inspired the people
of Gilgit and Baltistan to enroll as volunteers to fight alongside the Gilgit
Scouts. They managed to defeat the enemy and routed the Maharajas forces, which
liberated an entire area which subsequently was called Northern Areas. Northern Areas came into existence to join
freely on its own accord with Pakistan
