Concern over Pakistan PoK move

Kashmiri leaders on both sides of the line of control have expressed serious concern over the alleged move to make the Gilgit-Baltistan region of the Himalayan state the fifth province of Pakistan.

Unconfirmed reports from Islamabad say Pakistan Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif is holding a crucial meeting with his country’s top officials on January 14 to deliberate on the future of Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the backdrop of these reports, pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Muhammad Yasin Malik has shot off a letter to Mr Sharif cautioning him against such a move and asserting it would only weaken the Kashmiri people’s “national cause”. Referring to the apprehensions, that have been raised in various quarters, that Mr Sharif’s government may reach a consensus to merge Gilgit-Baltistan with Pakistan, Mr Malik has said that such a step will have implications on the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.

“If Pakistan imposes its sovereign writ over Gilgit-Baltistan, India will then have a political and moral right to integrate Kashmir with it. With one stroke, Pakistan will be helping India to consolidate its writ on Kashmir,” the letter says, urging Mr Sharif to stay away from such a course of action. The letter says, “It is not only political wisdom that forces me make this appeal but also respect for the sentiments, sacrifices and aspirations of Kashmiri people.”

“If your government incorporates Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan, and if as a consequence, India consolidates its hold in Kashmir, this would amount to a bartering of people’s aspirations. Kashmir is not about territory. It is about rights of people,” the letter asserts adding, “Bartering these rights for land means killing the aspirations of people.” Referring to media reports that the China-Pakistan corridor is forcing Islamabad to change the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan, the JKLF leader has said in his letter that economic development is good “but you have no moral right to make a policy that will adversely affect the future of millions of Kashmiris.” He also says, “I know that Pakistan is in a phase of history that is delicate. But this does not mean trading people’s rights”.

Recalling his meeting with Mr Sharif in Lahore in 2009, he has said, “When you met me in Lahore in 2009, you made some promises to me. You clearly vindicated Kashmiri position on Gilgit-Baltistan and opposed any proposal that will change its legal or constitutional status”.