| News Details |
| Pakistan gets it back | |
By Allabaksh
By now, Nawaz Sharif must be repenting on his decision, more so that of his army, to provoke India on Kashmir. The unrest there is for all to see but what Pakistan did in a most unabashed manner was to become a piggy for the terrorists, send them to J&K, speak all nonsensical things against India and provoke the people of Kashmir to rise against the Indian establishment there. The two globally proclaimed terrorists, Hafiz Sayeed and Sayed Salahuddin, who should have been behind the bars for their proven terrorist activities, addressed public meetings in Muzaffarabad to incite the people of the valley. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself visited PoK, and declared that he was waiting for the day when Kashmir would be a part of Pakistan, bellying his own public stand that Pakistan stands for ‘Azadi’ to people of Kashmir. Clearly Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his army chief Raheel Sharif took India’s reconciliatory approach as its weakness.
The developments following Pakistani establishment’s misadventure have in fact led to what may be termed of course correction of its act by India. New Delhi is convinced that Islamabad is not going to mend its ways much less call back the jihadi robots it has trained, nurtured and exported to the Valley. It is clear as day light that neither the political leadership in Islamabad nor the GHQ Shura in Rawalpindi is interested to settle issues peacefully with India. There is enough evidence in public domain that Pakistan is not serious about bringing to book the perpetrators as also their handlers of Mumbai and Pathankot attacks.
Consequently, New Delhi has decided to call Pakistan’s bluff and expose its blood soaked hands to the world community. In both Occupied Kashmir and Baluchistan, people have risen against the inhuman atrocities perpetrated by the establishment.
New Delhi’s stand is very clear that Pak occupied Kashmir is a part of Jammu and Kashmir as the state existed before Pakistan attacked in October 1947 and as such it belongs to India. Pakistan has misused the area in whatever way it could. It swears in the name of democracy but has made a sham of it in the region. The area has been given a namesake assembly while actual power rests with the federal government executed through the governing council headed by the president, who is a nominee of the dispensation in Islamabad.
Almost invariably, the party in power in Islamabad wins in POK assembly elections, also by a thumping majority. In the latest elections held in July this year, Nawaz Sharif’s PML -N won 32 of the 41 seats while the outgoing party, PP got only two seats. Had the PPP been in power at the center the results would, on the basis of past practice, be the other way round. A telling commentary on how fairly the ballot takes place under Pakistan. That much for Pakistan’s commitment to democracy.
Now come to mineral resources. PoK is rich in natural resources but these are exploited for rest of the country, leaving the people of the region high and dry. The locals have been agitating the exploitation for decades but no one listens to them. Pakistan has ceded a large part of PoK to China long back for construction of Karakorum Highway to facilitate movement of Chinese vehicles into Pakistan. It has now entered into an agreement with China for US $46 billion dollar Pakistan -China economic corridor for which a large area of land, well over 400 kilometers of Kashmir is to be transferred to China.
Yet, neither Gilgit-Baltistan nor PoK stand to benefit from the CPEC. People are up in arms. People of Gilgit-Baltistan observed a shutters down strike on Aug 15 under the banner of Awami Action Committee (AAC) against the lack of share for G-B in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Formed in 2014, the AAC is an alliance of some 23 religious, nationalist and political groups.
The strike was a success. “Our strike is successful and we have sent a message that we are united against discrimination and injustice committed against us”, AAC leaders were quoted as saying in the media.
As The Express Tribune reports, the strike came days after a powerful Senate committee, headed by Senator Taj Haider, visited the region to review CPEC projects. “The committee members, who met several delegations during their three-day stay in G-B, confirmed that the region had no share in the CPEC plan – something that prompted AAC to protest”, the English daily from Karachi reported on Aug 17.
The AAC leader have now decided to hold an indefinite ‘sit-in’ till G-B is provided its due share. What is steeling their resolve is the concern that the boost to economic activity and rush of vehicles will create food shortages. Only two percent of G-B area is under agriculture, and it lacks irrigation systems.
These concerns coupled with the fact that Pakistan has no right to transfer any part of the region to any other country, had made people in G-B and PoK restive. And they have hit the streets. The situation has become so volatile that there is open rebellion in the region.
There are reports that Pakistan government is now contemplating to declare the occupied Kashmir region as the fifth province of the land of the pure. Can there be anything more aggressive and shameful than this? Pakistan’s federal government tried to annex Gilgit and Baltistan, also called Northern Areas, with Pakistan but the county’s Supreme Court declared the areas as belonging to Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan having no locus standi on it.
Gilgit and Baltistan were taken over by Pakistan after attacking it in 1947 and making Brig. Gansara Singh, the nominee of the Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, to surrender. British colonial masters took the area on lease from the Maharaja; the lease was terminated a month before granting freedom to India and Pakistan. Strategically located Gilgit- Baltistan, provides Pakistan only land link with China.
Now come to Baluchistan. It has never been a part of Pakistan. It was an independent country even after Pakistan came into existence on August 14, 1947. For at least 8 months thereafter, Pakistani troops attacked the head of Kalat and annexed the region. Since then the people of Baluchistan are fighting for independence. The Pakistani forces have been inflicting extreme torture on the people there ranging from killings to kidnappings and throwing the mutilated bodies of the victims along the roadside only to be picked up days and weeks later.
Tens of thousands of people have been reported missing in the region and their families have no knowledge of their whereabouts. In fact the Pakistani Supreme Court headed by Justice Iftikhar Choudhry once came down heavily on the federal government and ordered it to trace the missing people and submit a report. But the missing persons remain untraced to this day. Pakistani Army launched a full-fledged military attack on Nawab Akbar Bugti during General Musharraf’s rule and killed him in his house. Nawab Bugti, a former Governor of Baluchistan province, has been the most popular leader of the Baloch people and is revered by them.
No wonder then that the Baluch leadership in Baluchistan and elsewhere has welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s statement of support to Baluch people. India may, in due course of time also raise the issue of Aksai Chin, a part of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which Pakistan has handed over to China.
Can any country with such a dubious record talk of democracy, human rights and morality? Pakistan has the cheeks to do so under an illusion that it can throw dust into the eyes of the world community and mislead the people of Kashmir to serve its own territorial interests. But the time to indulge in such antics is over. The world community, including the US, no longer takes Pakistan seriously. It has in fact been isolated globally. Its only hope, China, is also drifting away, as it has to take care of its own long term interests. One thing is clear. “Pakistan will not get Kashmir till eternity”, as the Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has said.
(The writer is a freelance journalist based in Kashmir)
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