THE unanimous resolution adopted by the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Thursday has again highlighted the aspirations of the people of the region to become a formal part of Pakistan. It asked the federal government to grant provisional provincial status as well as constitutional and political rights, for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. It recalled the historical background of GB’s liberation, subsequent administrative reforms and constitutional mechanisms for its integration into the national constitutional framework. The resolution urged the federal government to implement the recommendations of the Sartaj Aziz Committee by granting GB the status of a provisional province so that the residents could elect their representatives to the National Assembly and secure representation at the national level.
This is not for the first time that the GB assembly has recommended such a move as grant of provincial status to the region is the popular demand of the people of GB. With the passage of time, the successive governments introduced reforms to meet the growing demand of the people about their fundamental rights and it was in this backdrop that today the area is considered a virtual province with a chief minister and governor of its own. However, this falls short of aspirations of the local people, who want constitutional rights (full citizenship, voting rights in general elections and legal protection under the Supreme Court of Pakistan); representation in National Assembly and Senate; and a formal share in the National Finance Commission (NFC). There is a viewpoint that full constitutional and provincial status for GB will have legal and diplomatic implications for the Kashmir dispute. However, there is an overwhelming view among people of GB and rightly so that the region never remained a part of Jammu and Kashmir. Most people of GB argue that there is no need for plebiscite in the region and that their elders had already acceded to the state of Pakistan in 1947-48. The resolution unanimously adopted by the newly elected GB assembly offers a way out by suggesting that the region be declared a province of Pakistan provisionally without prejudice to Pakistan’s international commitments and legal stance on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The issue should be debated thoroughly and a decision taken in the light of the reasonable propositions by the elected representatives of the region.
