Gilgit Baltistan order: Law for illegal subversion of popular aspirations!

Several people were injured as police fired tear gas and resorted to aerial firing in Gilgit on May 26, to stop protesters approaching towards Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Assembly for a scheduled sit-in against the newly introduced G-B Order 2018. The protests came days after the government introduced governance order 2018, (May 21) terming it an improved version of Governance Order 2009 introduced by the Pakistan Poeples Party in 2009. A day later Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced the proposed Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Reforms Order 2018 in Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) while addressing a joint session of the assembly and GB Council, amid a complete shutter down strike and protests in 10 districts of the region against the legislation.

Gilgit Baltistan (GB) government on May 21 formally promulgated Gilgit Baltistan Order 2018, which provides devolution of greater administrative authority and financial powers to the area. The GB Order 2018 shifted powers of the Gilgit Baltistan Council to Gilgit Baltistan Assembly, entrusting with powers to make legislation regarding mineral, hydro power and tourism sectors.

What will executive order does?

The executive order from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Abbasi intends to begin legislative, judicial and administrative measures to integrate Gilgit-Baltistan with the rest of the federal structure of Pakistan.  As per the previous arrangement, Pakistan’s National Assembly received representation from five provinces — Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This excluded the Gilgit-Baltistan region which remained on the Pakistani side following the war of 1947 and was governed directly from Islamabad. Following the declaration by Abbasi, the status of Gilgit-Baltistan is expected to change.

Clear violation of sovereignty of India

This is a clear violation of India's sovereignty by Pakistan. Gilgit Baltistan is a part of erstwhile Jammu Kashmir state which is now integral part of India after Maharaja Hari singh signed the Memorandum of Accession on October 26, 1947, which Pakistan has been illegally occupied by Pakistan. In 1970 it was created as a separate administrative unit, named Northern Areas. In 2009 it gave autonomy to some extent by GESA (Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009) and named it Gilgit Baltistan.

Ultra-constitutional powers to Prime Minister of Pakistan!

This act not only violates the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India, but it is also going to create a lot of problems for the people of Gilgit Baltistan. Justice Muzzaffar ali, an ex. Justice of Gilgit Baltistan supreme appellate court elaborate that how the constitutional maneuvering by Pakistan government hampering basic aspirations of the peoples of Gilgit baltistan. He wrote about in Pakistani newspaper Pakistan Observer.  He explained in this article that “PM holds his office under the Constitution of Pakistan and the Constitution does not empower him to make law and simply he is administrative head in the federation of Pakistan. The Parliament is the law making body and the President of Pakistan having limited powers to pass an ordinance. If the “proposed order” is enforced in GB, the PM will gain ultra-constitutional “emperor powers” in respect of the GB and will rule over without any powers conferred on him by the Constitution. That, after the approval of “the order”, the Prime Minister will create an assembly for GB unconstitutionally. The assembly will be with symbolic powers of legislation and entire legislative powers will be wasted with the PM under article 60(a) of the “proposed order”. The Constitution of Pakistan confers no powers of legislation on PM, but the PM will make the laws for GB assuming ultra-constitutional status as a king.

He further said “GB has a special status because of Kashmir issue as such article-1 of the constitution does not mention GB within the territories of Pakistan but the honorable Supreme Court of the Pakistan has declared the people of GB as the citizens of Pakistan in the historical judgment titled Al-Jehad Trust versus Federation of Pakistan, 1999 S C M R pg.1379. The summary prepared, transpires that the above cited judgment has been taken as pretext to introduce the “proposed order” wrongly interpreting the same, for conferring the unlimited powers of legislation/administration, to the PM and to empower him to constitute a subservient judicial system in Gilgit–Baltistan by framing the “proposed order” notwithstanding the directives by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, issued to the federation of Pakistan, against the ratio-decidendi of the same. The administrative authorities in Federation if take the judgment as shield to impose their tyrannical wishes against GB, hopefully the Supreme Court of Pakistan will not tolerate and will safeguard the supremacy of law.”

China’s Role?

China has also played an important role in bringing Gilgit Baltistan explicitly under the sovereignty of Pakistan. It is notable that Gilgit Baltistan has the most important role in CPEC. The route that goes from Gwadar to Kashgar, enters China from Gilgit-Baltistan, and in such a situation, while China is investing about $ 60 billion on this entire project, so China pressuring Pakistan to deny the claim of sovereignty over the Gilgit-Baltistan region of India and to give it a clear identity under Pakistan's jurisdiction.

Not only political but Gilgit-Baltistan has been facing several environmental threats since the launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion dollar infrastructure and development-related project. Thirty-six glacial lakes in various valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan have been declared dangerous with seven of them posing a major threat to the people, said a survey by Focus Pakistan, an NGO. In the name of development, Gilgit Baltistan, like Baluchistan finally going to get only poverty and destruction.