Highsea, Lwarmongerer and Julie. Some strategic reasons

Ray · 04-10-2005, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Unrest in Gilgit-Baltistan
B. Raman

Paper prepared for presentation at a seminar on India's Himalayan Frontiers at the School of International Studies of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on February 5, 2005

While the current freedom struggle launched by the Baloch nationalists in Balochistan has received the attention of the international community, similar attention has not been paid to the growing unrest in the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which has been under Pakistani occupation since 1948. While the Pakistani authorities refer to this area as the Northern Areas of Pakistan, the local nationalists, who have launched a separatist struggle, call it by its historical name of Balawaristan.

Before 1948, this area, which the then Maharajah of Jammu & Kashmir had given on lease to the British since 1935 in order to enable the British to keep a watch on the developments in Xinjiang and Afghanistan, used to be known as the Northern Areas of J&K. Gen. Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan's military dictator between 1977 and 1988, had it renamed as the Northern Areas of Pakistan, at the culmination of a process of integration of the territory into Pakistan.

This area, which borders on India, China and Afghanistan, has been of strategic concern and interest to India, Pakistan, China and the US.

To India, because, firstly, it is its territory, which has been under the illegal occupation of Pakistan since 1948; secondly, this area, particularly Baltistan, has close ethnic, religious, cultural and other historic links with the Ladakh region of J&K, of which it used to be a part before the Pakistani occupation; thirdly, the Shias and the Ismailis of the area, who constitute the majority, have close fraternal links with the Shias of the Kargil area of the Ladakh Division and look up to India and its Shias for moral support in their struggle against the Pakistani authorities for the right of self-determination for the Shias of Pakistan in general and of the Northern Areas in particular; fourthly, part of the jihadi terrorist training infrastructure of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is located in this area; and, fifthly, the growing Wahabisation of the local population promoted by the Pakistan Army since the days of Zia. The developments in this area have an important bearing on India's national security.

To Pakistan, because the river waters which sustain agriculture in its Punjab flow from this area, the Karakoram Highway from the Xinjiang province of China constructed with Chinese help in the 1960s and the 1970s and inaugurated in 1978 is of tremendous strategic significance for the clandestine road transport of nuclear and other military material and missiles and missile parts from North Korea and China to Pakistan; the mountainn heights in this area provide vantage points in any Pakistani attempt to cut off the Ladakh region from the rest of J&K; and the Shias of this area have always proved to be a thorn in Pakistan's flesh.

To China, because the Karakoram Highway helps it in keeping the Pakistani military strength sustained against India, which has always been an important Chinese strategic objective; the highway would provide access to the sea for Chinese exports from the Xinjiang Province through the Gwadar Port on the Mekran Coast in Balochistan now under construction with Chinese assistance; and the likely impact of the growth of Wahabi extremism in this area on the activities of Uighur nationalists and jihadi terrorists in the Xinjiang province.

To the USA, in order to keep the pro-azadi (freedom) and not the pro-jihadi separatist groups in Xinjiang sustained in their struggle for Uighur independence and to enable them to counter the activities of jihadi terrorist groups; to keep a watch on the Chinese nuclear establishment located in the Xinjiang province; to use the local Shias, who are strongly anti-bin Laden, in its attempts to have him, his No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri and other Al Qaeda survivors smoked out.

Since the 1980s, there has been a steadily growing ferment against Islamabad in the Northern Areas due to the reasons explained in the following paragraphs.

MILITARY-INDUCED CHANGES IN THE DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION

A conscious policy of bringing about a change in the demographic composition of the area was initiated by Zia after the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 in order to counter the growing sectarian consciousness of the Shias and their demand for political and economic rights on par with the Sunnis. This change was sought to be brought about by encouraging and facilitating the migration of Sunnis from the other provinces and the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and by re-settling Sunni ex-servicemen in the area. As a result, the Shias and the Ismailis, who constituted about 85 per cent of the population in 1948, today constitute only about 53 per cent of the population. The Sunnis form about 42 per cent and the remaining five per cent belong to other sects of Islam.

In 1948, the sons of the soil (Ladakhis and Ladakhi-related ethnic groups of various hues) constituted about 80 per cent of the total population. Today, they constitute about 53 per cent. Pashtuns from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) constitute about 24 per cent, Punjabis about six per cent, Mirpuris from the POK about three per cent, Pashtuns from the FATA about one per cent, Sindhis and Mohajirs from Sindh about one per cent and Balochs less than one per cent. The provincial and ethnic origin of the remaining 11 per cent is not known.

Zia not only encouraged and facilitated the migration of people from the other areas of Pakistan to the Northern Areas, but also assisted the anti-Shia Sunni extremist organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), then known as the Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba, to set up its presence in the area and start a large number of madrasas ( religious schools) to impart religious education to the local Sunnis in the Deobandi-Wahabi ideology and military training through the ex-servicemen in order to resist Shia militancy.

Since the State's expenditure on education was negligible, the madrasas became the main centres for the education of local children and the breeding ground of extremism and terrorism. Due to the lack of economic development, the Northern Areas have the lowest GDP growth rate in Pakistan today, but the third highest GMP (Gross Mulla Product) and GJP (Gross Jihadi Terrorist Product) growth rates.The local Deobandi-Wahabi madrasas produce the third largest number of Mullas after the NWFP and Balochistan and the third largest number of jihadi terrorists after Punjab and the NWFP.

The resentment of the Shias over the change in the demographic composition and over the Army-sponsored induction of Wahabism and Sunni extremist elements into the area to counter the growing political activism of the Shias, allegedly funded by the Iranian intelligence, created a sectarian divide between the Shias and the Sunnis in an area where no such divide existed before the days of Zia. The Shias of the Northern Areas, like their co-religionists in the Kargil area of the Ladakh Division, were known to be a peace-loving, tolerant people.

The Sunni extremism led to the emergence of extremism in the Shia community and this was encouraged by the Tehrik-e-Jaffria Pakistan (TJP) and its militant wing Sipah Mohammad. This also led in 1988 to demands from the Shias for the creation of an autonamous Shia State to be called the Karakoram State. Alarmed by the signs of militancy in the Shia community, Zia put Pervez Musharraf in charge of the suppression of the Shias. Musharraf did so ruthlessly in 1988 and was helped in this by a group of tribesmen from the NEFP and the FATA led by Osama bin Laden.

The subsequent death of Zia in a plane crash in August,1988, was believed to be an act of retaliation by a Shia airman angered by this brutal suppression. Since then, the Northern Areas have seen frequent eruptions of Shia-Sunni clashes resulting in fatal casualties over issues such as the curriculum in the local schools, which excluded lessons on the beliefs of the Shias, discrimination against the Shias in the recruitment to Government services etc.

After violent riots in June,2004, over the question of the school syllabus which the Shias viewed as anti-Shia, the " Daily Times", the prestigious daily of Lahore, wrote as follows in an editorial titled " The plight of the Northern Areas":

"The syllabus issue in Gilgit continues to hang fire. On June 3, the local administration imposed curfew in the city after clashes broke out between the police and the Shia mobs protesting the new syllabus. Earlier, a meeting between the leaders of the community and the administration had failed to break the impasse on the issue. What’s going on?

"Sporadic news has been coming out of Gilgit about the syllabus problem for the past one year. We know that the Shias there are unhappy over certain passages and pictures in the officially prescribed Islamiyat textbook. But it is a measure of the failure of the mainstream press that most newspapers have not bothered to dig up the facts. Every story talks about the unrest and refers to the syllabus, but no attempt has been made to provide details of what exactly is wrong with the textbook.

"This is in line with the treatment we have meted out to the Northern Areas over the past four decades In the 1980s, the Pakistani state under Gen Zia-ul Haq made a deliberate attempt to infuse Sunni-Deobandi cadres of a sectarian party in order to put down the Shia. The problem of syllabus we now encounter in Gligit and also elsewhere is the product of the state’s enterprise of backing a particular brand of Islamic exegesis. Of course, there are other factors, not least the rampant corruption in the region by officials of the state and lack of development and employment opportunities. But the ground reality is that the area is sitting atop a time bomb and the syllabus is the trigger that could activate it. That is why it is surprising that despite the issue festering for so long the federal government has done nothing visible to address it. Now it threatens to become a law and order problem." (Editorial ends )

Till recently, the violent activities of the Sunni extremists were directed only against the Shias, but not against the Ismailis, but last year, the Sunni extremists started attacking the Ismailis and the schools run by the Aga khan Foundation not only in the Northern Areas, but also in the adjoining Chitral area in protest against the examination system followed by the Foundation. They projected it as secular and anti-Islam.

After the murder of two Ismailis in Chitral on December 27, 2004, the "Daily Times" (December 30,2004) wrote as follows in an editorial titled "Chitral trouble is symptomatic of deeper malaise" :"Four masked men killed two workers of the Aga Khan Health Services Office in Chitral on Monday December 27 and burnt four vehicles belonging to the charity organisation. The police have registered a case against the unknown assailants and have also arrested four persons belonging to “a banned organisation”. This kind of violence has happened in the area before, but has gained momentum after the MMA campaign against the Aga Khan Foundation in the rest of the country. In the adjacent Northern Areas (Gilgit) the Aga Khan charity institutions have come under attack regularly in the past years after being targeted by the radical religious elements waging jihad in Kashmir.

"Earlier this year, we had news about sectarian unrest in the North for almost six months. Schools were closed and there were instances of sporadic violence in areas where Shia and Ismaili populations are concentrated, but where power and influence have passed to Sunni clerics. In Chitral, the Shia-Sunni tension dates back to 1988 when the Northern Areas were attacked by Pushtun lashkars. A retired commissioner of Gilgit wrote: “In April 1988 armed rioters from outside entered the Gilgit environs. Eleven villages around town were torched, their wooden structures burnt to ashes and valuable goods looted. Around 40 persons were killed. It was clear to the Gilgit civil administration that the raiders, who were tribals and mujahideen elements, could not have reached this remote place from Peshawar without someone’s blessing. The Frontier Constabulary, whose checkposts dot the Swat-Besham road and the Besham-Gilgit highway, did not act to intercept the raiders”.

"That year General Zia ul Haq fired Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo for failing to control violence. Today, the MMA (Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of six fundamentalist parties) clerics are openly threatening ‘action’ against the Aga Khan Foundation because they don’t want it to organise a better examination system in the country. There is no doubt that the fiery sermons delivered down-country are having their effect in the North and have intensified sectarian conflict in Chitral too. What are the grounds for the MMA’s fury? If you wave the agitprop aside, there are no grounds at all.

"It is quite obvious that religious prejudice was already simmering and simply wanted an outlet. The clergy has therefore decided to confront the Aga Khan Foundation on a very flimsy pretext. This is what happened.

"The Aga Khan University Examination Board (AKU-EB) has been established through an ordinance to give the country an efficient system of exams that all students can afford. This was done in view of the growing popularity of the GCSE and “A” level exams conducted by the University of Cambridge in Pakistan. Each student taking these exams has to cough up around Rs 20,000. After the Board’s programme comes into force an examinee will pay only Rs 1,500 if he comes from a non-profit-making school and Rs 3,000 if he belongs to a private school. The standard of examination will be as high as the Cambridge one, which is taken by our students because it is reliable and is recognised in the private sector. It should be noted that the AKU-EB ordinance applies so far only to the private sector and the federal institutions and is completely voluntary. (Education being a provincial subject, the system will apply to state-run schools only after the provinces agree.) If an institution is unwilling to submit to the new system it is free to stay away. How does that threaten the Pakistani society? The truth is that once the programme gets going everyone will enlist in it because of its efficiency.

"Although the MMA, led by Jamaat-e-Islami, has no past record of criticising the Cambridge system in the country, the Jamaat now says the AKU-EB is set to “secularise” the country by the introduction of this system. How is that possible through mere conduct of such exams? The ordinance establishing the AKU-EB says quite clearly: “The Examination Board shall follow the national curriculum and syllabi.” There is no hidden reference here to any presumed secular brainwash as feared by the clergy. So what is the truth of the matter? The truth is that a hidden desire to exclude one more community from the pale of Islam persists after what the religious fanatics have done to non-Sunni majority locations in the North. What was happening so far in the periphery is now threatening to come to the centre. That is why General Pervez Musharraf must take firm action against the elements which have attacked the Aga Khan Health Services Office in Chitral and are working under a scheme to destabilise the country by exacerbating its sectarian conflict. That is also why he should seriously think of displacing the reactionary MMA with a liberal party in his political affections." (Editorial ends )

At least 14 people were killed, six of them burnt alive, and 14 injured during sectarian attacks in Gilgit on January 8,2005,, after which a curfew was imposed on the city and troops deployed to restore order. The clashes took place after “unidentified” people shot at the car of Agha Ziauddin, a Shia community leader and imam of the main Gilgit mosque, killing two of his bodyguards and seriously wounding him. One of the assailants was shot dead when fire was returned. Ziauddin succumbed to his injuries subsequently leading to more violence all over Gilgit and Baltistan and the imposition of a curfew for nearly a fortnight. Ziauddin was in the forefront of the campaign against the school curriculum.

The "Daily Times" of January 10,2005, wrote in an editorial as follows: "Following the incident in Chitral, the chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Tayba, Hafiz Saeed, proclaimed in Lahore that the government was “apostatising” the Muslims of the Northern Areas, meaning that it was supporting the so-called “heresy” of Ismaili and Shia Islam. The Lashkar-e-Tayba gained influence in the Northern Areas during the Kargil Operation in 1999, not without causing some sectarian incidents. From being a completely Ismaili region in history, it has been injected with external populations through natural immigration from the rest of the country. But there have been manipulations too, as a result of which the region has suffered violence.

"Saturday’s killing in Gilgit is a big incident recalling the 1988 massacre which accounted for 44 deaths after “lashkars” sent in by a politician nicknamed the “devil of Hazara” entered the Shia city after travelling the Karakoram Highway which was supposed to be guarded closely by the Pakistan Army. Then it was the high tide of General Zia’s jihad in Afghanistan and the Shias — from Kurram Agency to the Northern Areas — were considered “non-cooperative”. That year, Parachinar and Gilgit were both subjected to invasions and hundreds of people were put to death. The climax of the anti-Shia campaign was reached when the all-Pakistan Shia leader Allama Arif ul Hussaini — a Turi from Kurram Agency and close companion of Imam Khomeini — was murdered in Peshawar. Shockingly, ten days later General Zia was himself killed in an air-crash in Bahawalpur.

"Was the Musharraf government not forewarned? Sadly, it was, when last year there was unrest in the Balti Shia areas and the local population gathered several times in protest against the textbooks being prescribed in their schools. There were also complaints against clerics coming from ‘outside’ the area and delivering fiery sermons based on sectarian hatred. But nothing was done. The incidents were not treated as a series of connected happenings leading up to a climax. Islamabad seems to be more concerned about mollifying the clergy on “religion entry” in the passports than about thinking of how to save our vulnerable populations from increasingly falling victim to religio-ideological policies." (Editorial ends )

LACK OF DEMOCRACY & FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

The Northern Areas have the status of a Federally Administered Area and are treated on par with the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The chief executive authority for the NA is vested in the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Northern Areas, States and Frontier Regions. He is assisted by a Deputy Chief Executive, who is appointed by the Chief Executive from amongst the members of the Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC), after he had secured the support of the majority of the members of the Council. The Deputy Chief Executive enjoys the status of a Minister of State.

The Deputy Chief Executive, in turn, is assisted by Advisors, who are appointed by the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Deputy Chief Executive, from amongst the members of the NALC.The Advisors have the status of a Provincial Minister. The Administration is headed by a Chief Secretary, and Secretaries head the departments. The Northern Areas Rules of Business, 1994 defines "Government" as meaning the Chief Executive, the Deputy Chief Executive and the Chief Secretary, Northern Areas.

The Northern Areas Legislative Council is an elected body, having six members each elected from the three districts of Gilgit, Diamir and Baltistan, and three each from the two districts of Ghizar and Ghanche. There are five reserved seats for women, one from each district. The 24 directly elected representatives in the Council elect the women members for these seats. The Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and the Northern Areas is a member of the Council. The Council elects from amongst its members a Speaker, who is given the status of a Provincial Minister.

Schedule II to the Northern Areas Council Legal Framework Order, 1994 lists the matters with respect to which the Council may make laws. No bill passed by the Council can become law unless it is approved and signed by the Chief Executive. The Government of Pakistan may also by order make laws with respect to matters not enumerated in Schedule II. The annual budget allocated to the Northern Areas is presented before the Council in the form of a statement.

In the rest of Pakistan, the allocation of federal resources to the provinces is made on the basis of population, with some weightage for the under-developed or backward areas. This principle is not applicable to budgetary allocations to the Northern Areas. The Northern Areas administration is treated as an attached department of the federal Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas , which calculates the budgetary requirements of the Pakistan-Ocuupied Kashmir (POK) and the NA, gets them sanctioned by the Federal Finance Ministry and then allocates them to the Administrations of the POK and the NA.

It is the Chief Executive (Minister) who decides further allocation of funds. The Northern Areas Rules of Business, 1994 provide in Rule 5(c) that the Chief Executive shall exercise the powers of the Federal Ministry of Finance in relation to the approved budget for the Northern Areas and that he shall exercise administrative powers of the Establishment Division in relation to employees of the Northern Areas.

The NA is ruled from Islamabad by the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, who is designated as the Chief Executive. While the Deputy Chief Executive is generally from the area, the Chief Secretary, the Inspector-General of Police and the heads of Departments are generally from other provinces, mainly from the NWFP. The so-called Legislative Council has very little legislative powers. It has very little financial powers, which are concentrated in the hands of the Islamabad-based Chief Executive. There is no provision for a leader of the opposition and for a vote of confidence. The only duty of the Legislative Council is to rubber-stamp the decisions of the Chief Executive and to carry out his wishes. There is no publio service commission to make recruitments to the local government services from amongst the local population.

There was no reference to the NA in the Pakistani constitutions of 1956, 1962, 1972 and 1973. Nor is there a reference to it in the 1974 Interim Constitution of POK. The only reference to it is in a Legal Framework Order, which placed it under the control of the Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Ministry. In 1982, Zia proclaimed that the people of the Northern Areas were Pakistanis and had nothing to do with the State of J&K.

Following this, some residents of the NA filed a writ petition under Section 44 of the POK Interim Constitution Act of 1974 in which they challenged the Pakistani view that the Northern Areas were not a part of Kashmir but were a part of Pakistan. They also contended that even the Sino-Pakistan Agreement of 1963 had specified that the Northern Areas were a part of the State of J&K.

Rejecting their contention, the Government of Pakistan claimed that it "was not functioning or operating within the territory of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (and) as such it was not amenable to the jurisdiction of this court". It also denied the existence of the well-known Karachi Agreement of April 28, 1949 "whereby the administrative control of Northern Areas was delivered to the Government of Pakistan". The high Court of POK, however, ruled that the so-called Northern Areas were a part of POK. Pakistan had the ruling vacated by the Supreme Court of POK which said that the POK High Court had no jurisdiction to issue the ruling.

In another case when the Al Jihad Trust and others filed a petition before the Supreme Court of Pakistan demanding the grant of fundamental rights, including the right to vote and be represented in the federal Parliament and the right of self-determination, the Government of Pakistan argued that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had no jurisdiction since the Northern Areas were not, in terms of Pakistan’s constitution, a part of Pakistan.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a landmark verdict on May 28, 1999, directed the government to take administrative and legislative steps for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of the people in the Northern Areas, and allow them to be governed by their elected representatives within a period of six months. The SC, however, declined to give a ruling on the request of the petitioners that the people of the Northern Areas should be given representation in the country's parliament. It observed that it could not decide on the form of government that should be set up in the Northern Areas to ensure compliance with the mandate of the Constitution.

Following this, the Nawaz Sharif Government, then in power, announced a 'package' for the Areas, which provided for an appellate court, comprising three members of the Supreme Court bench, to sit in Gilgit, increased the number of seats in the council which was renamed as the Northern Areas Legislative Council. The first elections to the NALC were held after the military takeover on November 3,1999, and the second elections in December,2004.

On November 26,2000, the military Government announced the delegation of financial and administrative powers to the NALC and increased the annual budgetary allocation for the area.In October 2002, the Government decided to create two separate Divisions in the federal Government for dealing with the affairs of the POK and the Northern Areas, instead of the same Division dealing with both as was the case till then. It was also laid down that while the federal Government would continue to deal with Home Affairs, Law and Prisons in the Northern Areas,all other matters would be dealt with by the Northern Areas Legislative Council. The Deputy Chief Executive was given powers relating to the transfers and postings of Government servants upto a certain level and it was decided to treat the Chief Secretary of the NA on par with the Chief Secretaries of other provinces of Pakistan.

Thus, the position regarding the NA is follows:

The Northern Areas are de facto an integral part of Pakistan. Thus, the federal Government of Pakistan has all the rights against the people-----such as the right to collect taxes, the right to enforce law and order, the right to station the Army in the territory, the right to make recruitment to the Armed Forces from the territory, the right to prescribe the school curriculum, the right to re-settle outsiders, including ex-servicemen, in the area in order to change its demographic composition etc.

They are de jure not an integral part of Pakistan. Hence, the people of the territory have no rights against the State of Pakistan---such as the right to vote in the federal elections and to be represented in the federal parliament, the right to contol their budget through their elected representatives, the right to self-determination etc. Moreover, the Northern Areas are still governed by the Frontier Crime Regulations (FCRs). These were first promulgated by the British in the FATA before 1947 and were extended by Islamabad to the Northern Areas after they were occupied in 1948. The FCRs are similar to the Criminal Tribes Act promulgated by the British in India, under which members of tribes notified under this act had to take the prior permission of the Police before travelling from their place of residence to another place and were required to keep the police informed of their movements. One of the first acts of the Government of India after it became independent was to abrogate this Act, but in Pakistan, the FCRs continue even today. People of the FATA and the NA violating them are liable to punishments such as fine, forefeiture of property, cancellation of gun licence etc.
LACK OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Though the Government of Pervez Musharraf claims to have increased the annual budgetary allocations for the NA from Pakistani Rs. 600 million to one billion, the NA continues to be in a state of neglect, with three-fourths of the population estimated to be below the poverty line. It provides water for Punjab's agriculture, but there are no adequate irrigation facilities for its own agriculture. There is always an acute shortage of electricity and only now China has been helping in the construction of some small power stations. About 70 Chinese engineers are working on the construction of these projects. For want of power, there is no industry. Apart from the Karakoram Highway (1284 kms) constructed by the Chinese in return for Pakistan's transfer of some of the territory in the NA to Xinjiang, no new road construction has been undertaken due to the difficulty of the engineering works involved, particularly for the construction of tunnels. The North Korean Army has offered assistance for the construction of tunnels and in 2001 a North Korean team of military engineers had visited the area for studying the feasibility. The work is yet to start. In the absence of any development, the principal means of livelihood for the local people were service in the Armed Forces and in the tourism industry. The recruitment to the Armed Forces from amongst the Shias of the NA has been cut down since the suspected involvement of a Shia airman from the NA in the crash of the plane carrying Zia in 1988. The tourism industry has been affected post-9/11 by the fighting in Afghanistan and the attack on a tourist bus carrying European tourists by suspected Al Qaeda elements, while it was going to Xinjiang along the Karakoram Highway. Economic conditions are poor in the POK too, but those affected, including those displaced by the construction of the Mangla Dam, have migrated in their hundreds to the Gulf and Western Europe to earn their living. The rigorous enforcement of the FCRs by the Army has even closed the door for migration abroad for the people of the NA.

MOVEMENT FOR RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION

As a result of the factors mentioned above, a movement for the grant of the right of self-determination for the people of the NA has been steadily growing. It first made its appearance in 1994 and has slowly picked up momentum since then, helped by the anger of the Shias over the suppression of their rights and of the people as a whole because of their status as second class citizens. The anger of the local population over the failure of the military leadership to adequately compensate the families of those who had enrolled themselves in the Light Infantry Regiments (LIRs) and who were killed during the Kargil conflict of 1999 has aggravated the feelings of alienation. Since Musharraf had projected those who occupied the Kargil heights as Kashmiri mujahideen and not regulars of the Pakistan Army, he was unable to openly acknowledge their deaths and compensate their families.

A number of new political formations has come up demanding either an independent J&K, with the NA forming its part or the grant of independence to the NA. Prominent amongst them are the Jammu and Kashmir People’s National Party, which is active in the POK as well as the NA, and the Balawaristan National Front (BNF), which is active only in the NA, the Gilgit Baltistan United Action Forum for Self Rule, and the Gilgit-Baltistan National Alliance (GBNA).

These organisations have for the present been confining their activities to taking up their cause with the UN Human Rights Commission and other UN organisations, creating an awareness of their cause in the international community, bringing instances of the violation of the human rights of the people of the NA to the notice of international human rights organisations etc. They are not yet thinking in terms of a militant freedomstruggle similar to the one being waged by the Balochs under the leadership of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Their joining hands with the Balochs could benefit them.

Their attempts to wage a political struggle through the NALC have been handicapped by the ban imposed by the Pakistani authorities on anyone contesting the elections unless he or she signs a pledge that the NA is an integral part of Pakistan, which they are not prepared to.

Musharraf's proposals made last year during what he described as a loud-thinking session with a group of journalists for a solution to the J&K issue with India by treating the State as consisting of seven components, with the NA being one of them, and by reaching an agreement with India for the withdrawal of the forces from them to be followed by an exercise to determine the wishes of their people on their future was welcomed by the BNF. According to it, this was the first time someone in the Pakistani military leadership had admitted that the future of the NA was still to be determined and proposed the withdrawal of the Pakistani troops from there before determining its future. But, Musharraf went back on it following a furore in Pakistan against it. Even many senior Army officers were reported to have opposed his idea on the ground that this would affect Pakistan's national security.

INDIAN POLICY

Since 1948, no Government in India has had a lucidly thought over and openly articulated strategy to regain control of this territory. In fact, there is not even adequate knowledge in the policy-making circles of the Government of India and in the public as a whole on the NA. As a result, Government's pronouncements relating to the POK have come to be seen as referring only to the area that Pakistan calls Azad Kashmir. The NA stands in danger of disappearing from the consciousness of the international community. This state of affairs should be corrected. The Government of India should not fight shy of interacting intensively with the leaders of the nationalist parties of the NA and should not hesitate to extend to them political, moral and diplomatic support in their cause.

In a cover page article on the NA carried in 1988, the "Herald", the prestigious monthly journal of the "Dawn" group of publications of Karachi, had described the NA as "the world's last colony." Seventeen years later, it remains so. ( 1-2-05)

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Chennai Chapter. E-mail: corde@vsnl.com )

ANNEXURE: BACKGROUND DATA

Area: 72,496 Sq. kms (the size of the Republic of Ireland). The area of the POK is 13,297 sq.kms and of India's J & K is 101,387 sq.kms.

Population: There is considerable confusion about the population. Local leaders estimate the total population as about 1.5 million, but according to an official website, the Northern Areas had a total population of 870,347 in 1998 distributed as follows: Gilgit---243,324; Baltistan--214,848; Diamir--203, 591; Ghizar--120,218 and Ghanche--88,366. In Pakistan, census figures are treated as official secrets due to frequent clashes due to differences over the exact figures of the populations of different ethnic and sectarian groups. The population of the POK is 3,271,000, that is, about 3.3 million. India's J&K has a population of 10.1 million.

Languages/dialects spoken: Brushaski is spoken in Hunza, Nagir, Yasin, some parts of Gilgit, and some villages of Punyal. Shina in different dialacts is spoken mainly in Gilgit, throughout Diamir, and most of the areas of Ghizar. Balti is spoken by the entire population of Baltistan except some villages. Wakhi is spoken in upper Hunza and some villages in Ghizar, and Khwar is spoken by some Khwar families in Ghizar. None of these languages are related to each other.

Landmark Agreements:

According to an agreement dated 28th April 1949, with the government of the POK, the subjects of defence, foreign affairs, security, currency and the control of Gilgit and Baltistan were transferred to the Government of Pakistan.This agreement is known as the "Karachi Agreement".

In 1963, China and Pakistan signed a boundary agreement known as the China-Pakistan Final Agreement in respect of the demarcation of the Xinjiang-Kashmir border. In this agreement, the Northern Areas were shown as disputed areas and admitted as a part of the Jammu and Kashmir State. Under this agreement, the Government of Pakistan handed over the Shaksgam area (5,800 sq. kms) of Baltistan to China. Later, both the governments signed an agreement stating as follows:".The two parties have agreed that after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the sovereign authority concerned will reopen negotiations with the Government of the Peoples' Republic of China on the boundary, as described in Article II of the present agreement, of Kashmir so as to sign a boundary treaty to replace the present agreement."

The Economy:

The literacy rate is 14 per cent for men and 3.5 per cent for women.

There is just one doctor for 6,000 people.

Piped water supply is non-existent. So is electricity for more than two thirds of the population of the area.

Except for some brick kilns there is no ‘industry’ in the area.

There are only two colleges in the area. There is not a single polytechnic.

Origin of the name Balawaristan

It is said that this area has been referred to as 'Bolor' in the accounts of the Chinese pilgrims as well as in the Arabic and Persian books of the Muslim historians including in Alberuni's account and in the Tarikh-i-Rashidi of Mirza Haider Dauglat, who conquered Kashmir for Akbar in 1586 and thus for the first time Kashmir became part of India. Balawaristan, it is said, is derived from Bolor.

[ The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Chennai Chapter.]
http://www.observerindia.com/analysis/A365.htm

Since you all are interested in knowing about the Subcontinent, I thought this would interest you.

ajaybhutani · 04-10-2005, 04:54 AM

Ray Sir,
The rights and responsibilities of Pakistan WRT NA look similar to me as the rights enjoyed by a Country wrt its colony. Am i right?

highsea · 04-10-2005, 06:11 AM

Thank you Ray.

Asim Aquil · 04-10-2005, 09:32 AM

Pakistan however goes one step further. We're ready to re-patriate NA with Kashmir if India's does the same. To accept it under Pakistani law, would mean acceptance of the fact that we've settled on a divided Kashmir.

ajaybhutani · 04-10-2005, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asim Aquil

Pakistan however goes one step further. We're ready to re-patriate NA with Kashmir if India's does the same. To accept it under Pakistani law, would mean acceptance of the fact that we've settled on a divided Kashmir.

a BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG diference, u guys are ready to give up a colony provided we give up a part of our nation( which is just as imp for us as any other part).And thats not called a step further. Tahts called pissing off the other side.

lemontree · 04-10-2005, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asim Aquil

We're ready to re-patriate NA with Kashmir if India's does the same.

Elaborate please...

Quote:

To accept it under Pakistani law, would mean acceptance of the fact that we've settled on a divided Kashmir.

The acts of giving away a part of NA to China?...what was that?

hammer · 04-10-2005, 13:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemontree

The acts of giving away a part of NA to China?...what was that?

For all the ravings and rantings of Pakistan about Indian Kashmir, i am yet to see one good explanation from pakistanis why that part of kashmir was illegally ceded to china and why they wont demand the chinese to return them?

Ray · 04-10-2005, 16:25 PM

Ajay,

Yes, they are treated as second class. All because they are Shias.

I have interacted with Baltis and folks from Gilgit.

Maybe you could call it a colony.

Asim Aquil · 04-10-2005, 16:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammer

For all the ravings and rantings of Pakistan about Indian Kashmir, i am yet to see one good explanation from pakistanis why that part of kashmir was illegally ceded to china and why they wont demand the chinese to return them?

Its for the Kashmiris to demand. Not India or Pakistan.

ajaybhutani · 04-10-2005, 17:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asim Aquil

Its for the Kashmiris to demand. Not India or Pakistan.

Lets rephrase the question. What right did paksitan have to give away a part of kashmir to China?

lwarmonger · 04-10-2005, 21:46 PM

Thanks Ray. Much obliged.

BasilKumar · 04-10-2005, 21:57 PM

Hi Ray, rather solid information which should help many not educated about the issue.

lemontree · 04-11-2005, 13:13 PM

Hi BasilKumar,
I had the pleasure of attending a few army courses with your country men. I'm not in touch with them but I hope that they are fine and well.

hammer · 04-11-2005, 13:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajaybhutani

Lets rephrase the question. What right did paksitan have to give away a part of kashmir to China?

Hmmm... what nobody answered this question ? where are those 'kashmir freedom fighters'?!

ajaybhutani · 04-11-2005, 15:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammer

Hmmm... what nobody answered this question ? where are those 'kashmir freedom fighters'?!

actually there are questions like these which supporters of pak occupation of kashmir and s called freedom fighters run away when faced with.

04-10-2005, 06:11 AM	#3 (permalink)
highsea *Defense Professional* Join Date: 12-10-04 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 3,522	Thank you Ray. __________________ My baby called me up. She said- Why don't you ever take me out? Pick me up in your brand new car....You shake the short change from the old fruit jar...

04-10-2005, 04:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
ajaybhutani *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 09-05-04 Posts: 2,100	Ray Sir, The rights and responsibilities of Pakistan WRT NA look similar to me as the rights enjoyed by a Country wrt its colony. Am i right?

04-10-2005, 09:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
Asim Aquil Banished *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 06-11-04 Location: Dubai Posts: 8,135 Country:	Pakistan however goes one step further. We're ready to re-patriate NA with Kashmir if India's does the same. To accept it under Pakistani law, would mean acceptance of the fact that we've settled on a divided Kashmir.

04-10-2005, 16:25 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ray Postmaster General *Military Professional* Join Date: 08-20-03 Posts: 27,117 Country:	Ajay, Yes, they are treated as second class. All because they are Shias. I have interacted with Baltis and folks from Gilgit. Maybe you could call it a colony.

04-10-2005, 21:46 PM	#11 (permalink)
lwarmonger *Military Professional* Join Date: 02-08-05 Posts: 1,784	Thanks Ray. Much obliged.

04-10-2005, 21:57 PM	#12 (permalink)
BasilKumar Banished Join Date: 04-07-05 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 32	Hi Ray, rather solid information which should help many not educated about the issue.

04-11-2005, 13:13 PM	#13 (permalink)
lemontree Bandaid *Military Professional* Join Date: 10-04-04 Location: India Posts: 5,918	Hi BasilKumar, I had the pleasure of attending a few army courses with your country men. I'm not in touch with them but I hope that they are fine and well.