CPEC and Gilgit-Baltistan Dispute
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has dominated the economic and national security discourse of Pakistan. Many people are of the opinion that CPEC is a “game changer” for the economy of Pakistan by providing connectivity through a smooth system of highway throughout the country (Pakistan) facilitating seamless connectivity between the western hinterland of China and the Arabian Sea, expanded infrastructure, large scale power projects, transnational railway system and an airport in Gawadar. CPEC is not just being used as a game changer for the Pakistani economy, but it is also being used as a new tool for promoting the Pakistani nationalism. Many experts including the ruler PTI who were openly criticizing and advocating the negative economic impact and adverse effects on the fiscal and financial policy of the country, commenced to compromising the ongoing situation of the CPEC. If any politician or an economic expert un-deliberately criticized the negative effects of CEPEC, the PML (N) leaders and the ruling government of PTI are declaring them as anti-state elements
With the inception of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which enters into Pakistan through Khunjrab pass of Hunza Gilgit Baltistan, which is considered as a disputed region and India considered it the integral part of India. It was the common understanding that with the announcement of CPEC, Islamabad has considering the idea of granting some kind of provincial status to the region, which would be continued to be directly governed from the capital under variable provisions of the constitution of Pakistan, but the hope changed into a despair after the Judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 28th February 2019.
CPEC has been portrayed as a one-stop solution for all the primarily sick economic of Pakistan. Expectations were that as more economic projects are set up and more freight movement would take place, which would revamp highways and logistics facilities and would eventually benefit Gilgit-Baltistan by multiplying the effects of economic growth. Although there are no specific projects under the CPEC except a Special Economic Zone at Maqpoon Das in the region, some key projects from the PSDP have been announced for Gilgit Baltistan, which include the renovation of the Gilgit-Skardu road.
CPEC has been presented as an economic solution for everyone and the development projects are used to reinforce Pakistani nationalism in Gilgit Baltistan. In case of attempts to counter the idea in the region which is inculcated through political and military establishments considering it promoting of anti-Pakistan sentiment along with CPEC in the region. The law enforcing agencies arrested a dozen members of the nationalist accusing them of working against CPEC at the behest of Indian intelligence. According to Dawn News on January 18, 2017, the Inspector General Police Zafar Iqbal Awan of Gilgit Baltistan during a press briefing claimed the 12 persons were arrested who were trying to "promote an anti-national ideology" and had "played into the hands of foreign agencies".
General Raheel Sharif the ex-Army Chief while addressing a seminar on CPEC in Gilgit on 31 Ist August 2016 warned the nefarious designs of India. According to Dawn News dated First September 2016 the army chief “warned India’s premier and it's spy agency that Pakistan knows its enemies and is fully aware of their nefarious designs. Making a special mention of Indian PM Narendra Modi and the country's intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Gen Raheel assured the nation that the country’s frontiers are totally secure. While addressing the participants, Gen Raheel said: “I am confident that the country is moving in the right direction and we will ensure foolproof security of CPEC.” He acknowledged and appreciated the courage and determination of Gilgit-Baltistan's people and assured them that “China is working for the welfare and development of the region”. “I am confident that Gilgit-Baltistan will also develop like the Chinese area across the border,” he asserted. The army chief also appreciated the courage of local youth in Gilgit-Baltistan and said: “Pakistan Army is their army”. Gen Raheel further said that “Pakistan Army will provide foolproof security to CPEC.” He showed satisfaction over the performance of the armed forces in Operation Zarb-i-Azb.”
A recent development, which comes as some support to an embattled New Delhi, has the potential to make the debate surrounding Gilgit-Baltistan’s status more intense in the coming days. On March 23, a motion introduced by British Conservative leader Bob Blackman was tabled in the House of Commons, condemning Pakistan’s continuing control over the region.
“Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, which is illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947, and where people are denied their fundamental rights including the right of freedom of expression,” the motion read. Further, the motion even noted that the “attempt to change the demography of the region was in violation of State Subject Ordinance, and the forced and illegal construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) further aggravated and interfered with the disputed territory.”
Although Blackman is popularly known for speaking out in support of Kashmiri Hindus, his stand on Gilgit-Baltistan might open a Pandora’s box, much to the chagrin of the British if history is to be revisited. The main issue, which remains of the highest concern, is whether the British establishment is ready to acknowledge its partisanship in ceding Gilgit to Pakistan, following which Baltistan was also lost.
In 1947, on the verge of the creation of independent India and Pakistan, the lease of Gilgit was canceled and the region was handed over to the Brigadier Ghansara Singh Governor of Gilgit appointed by Maharaja of Kashmir on First August 1947. The Dogra governor took over management of the province. Under the Operation “Datta Khel,” the strategy to overthrow the governor of Gilgit, mollify the Dogra troops stationed at Bonji near Gilgit, and hand over Gilgit to Pakistan was well planned in advance by Lieutenant Colonel Roger Bacon, the outgoing British Political Agent of Gilgit. Major William Brown, the commandant of Gilgit Scouts, and Captain Mathieson his second in command executed the plan with the help of the local officers and political leadership with confidence and precisely in strictness. In recognition of his services, Brown was awarded the prestigious British MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) honor by the British government in 1948 and the Government of Pakistan decorated him after his death the with the prestigious award of Hilal-e-Pakistan.
In his book “ The Gilgit Rebellions” Major Brown described the cruelty of the Maharaja of Kashmir and accused the Dogra administration of being a usurper of Gilgit having power without legal authority. He has justified the decision to overthrow the Dogras to unite the Muslims of Gilgit with their brethren from the newly formed Pakistan. Eventually, it was the strong British support that helped to sustain the Dogra presence in Gilgit, as British political agent was responsible to administer the entire Gilgit Region from 1877 to 1947. There have been ongoing debates over the overlapping jurisdictions of the Maharaja and British understand the legal authority of the Maharaja’s control, but ultimately it was the British Political Agent who was having control over the territories of Gilgit. The rule of Maharaja in turn was controversial among the people of Gilgit, who resented and revolted against the Dogras. Major Brown was finally successful in persuading the local Rajas and the Mirs of Hunza and Nagar to join Pakistan once it became clear that this would not be postured as a challenge to them.
Col. Mirza Hassan Khan, then captain of 6th Infantry of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces stationed Bonji near Gilgit, being sin of the soil, played an important role among the Muslim officers in the libation of Gilgit Baltistan but Major Brown has left no stone unturned in criticizing Hassan Khan on his account, likening his movement with a slight abnormality because of independent Gilgit then pro-Pakistan sentiment. With the only presented narrative in November 1947 being with the people Gilgit-Baltistan. Mirza Hassan Khan later had to spend several years in prison.
Sentiments of the people of Gilgit Baltistan should be honored in a respectable manner and their demand of the constitutional right should be considered in the best interest of Pakistan without further lingering on from 1948 on the grounds of bureaucratic deceive and fraud. Given the recurrence of numerous nationalist movements followed the recurring crackdowns by the authorities, there are reasons to believe that separatist sentiment still exists, even if not at a large and widespread scale.
The political government and the military bureaucrats may be readying to make the region its fifth province. It is imperative that the issue is scrutinized; with past British policies and territorial definitions along with the liberation of Gilgit Baltistan the unconditional accession to Pakistan and the legal acceptance of the state of Pakistan are the important points. Discussing this historical background does not minimize the importance of the Parliament. The Golan Heights has recently recognized as the territorial boundary of Israel by the USA. If it is so then why not Gilgit Baltistan, as it was liberated in 1948.
A recent development, which comes as some support to an embattled New Delhi, has the potential to make the debate surrounding Gilgit-Baltistan’s status more intense in the coming days. On March 23, a motion introduced by British Conservative leader Bob Blackman was tabled in the House of Commons, condemning Pakistan’s continuing control over the region.
“Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, which is illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947, and where people are denied their fundamental rights including the right of freedom of expression,” the motion read. Further, the motion even noted that the “attempt to change the demography of the region was in violation of State Subject Ordinance, and the forced and illegal construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) further aggravated and interfered with the disputed territory.”
Although Blackman is popularly known for speaking out in support of Kashmiri Hindus, his stand on Gilgit-Baltistan might open a Pandora’s box, much to the chagrin of the British if history is to be revisited. The main issue, which remains of the highest concern, is whether the British establishment is ready to acknowledge its partisanship in ceding Gilgit to Pakistan, following which Baltistan was also lost.
In 1947, on the verge of the creation of independent India and Pakistan, the lease of Gilgit was canceled and the region was handed over to the Brigadier Ghansara Singh Governor of Gilgit appointed by Maharaja of Kashmir on First August 1947. The Dogra governor took over management of the province. Under the Operation “Datta Khel,” the strategy to overthrow the governor of Gilgit, mollify the Dogra troops stationed at Bonji near Gilgit, and hand over Gilgit to Pakistan was well planned in advance by Lieutenant Colonel Roger Bacon, the outgoing British Political Agent of Gilgit. Major William Brown, the commandant of Gilgit Scouts, and Captain Mathieson his second in command executed the plan with the help of the local officers and political leadership with confidence and precisely in strictness. In recognition of his services, Brown was awarded the prestigious British MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) honor by the British government in 1948 and the Government of Pakistan decorated him after his death the with the prestigious award of Hilal-e-Pakistan.
In his book “ The Gilgit Rebellions” Major Brown described the cruelty of the Maharaja of Kashmir and accused the Dogra administration of being a usurper of Gilgit having power without legal authority. He has justified the decision to overthrow the Dogras to unite the Muslims of Gilgit with their brethren from the newly formed Pakistan. Eventually, it was the strong British support that helped to sustain the Dogra presence in Gilgit, as British political agent was responsible to administer the entire Gilgit Region from 1877 to 1947. There have been ongoing debates over the overlapping jurisdictions of the Maharaja and British understand the legal authority of the Maharaja’s control, but ultimately it was the British Political Agent who was having control over the territories of Gilgit. The rule of Maharaja, in turn, was controversial among the people of Gilgit, who resented and revolted against the Dogras. Major Brown was finally successful in persuading the local Rajas and the Mirs of Hunza and Nagar to join Pakistan once it became clear that this would not be postured as a challenge to them.
Col. Mirza Hassan Khan, then captain of 6th Infantry of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces stationed Bonji near Gilgit, being sin of the soil, played an important role among the Muslim officers in the libation of Gilgit Baltistan but Major Brown has left no stone unturned in criticizing Hassan Khan on his account, likening his movement with a slight abnormality because of independent Gilgit then pro-Pakistan sentiment. With the only presented narrative in November 1947 being with the people Gilgit-Baltistan. Mirza Hassan Khan later had to spend several years in prison.
Sentiments of the people of Gilgit Baltistan should be honored in a respectable manner and their demand of the constitutional right should be considered in the best interest of Pakistan without further lingering on from 1948 on the grounds of bureaucratic deceive and fraud. Given the recurrence of numerous nationalist movements followed the recurring crackdowns by the authorities, there are reasons to believe that separatist sentiment still exists, even if not at a large and widespread scale.
The political government and the military bureaucrats may be readying to make the region its fifth province. It is imperative that the issue is scrutinized; with past British policies and territorial definitions along with the liberation of Gilgit Baltistan the unconditional accession to Pakistan and the legal acceptance of the state of Pakistan are the important points. Discussing this historical background does not minimize the importance of the Parliament. The Golan Heights has recently recognized as the territorial boundary of Israel by the USA. If it is so then why not Gilgit Baltistan, as it was liberated in 1948.
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