Another coward attempt…!
                                           By Dj Mathal
Yet another assault came on the nationalists as the home department of
Gilgit-Baltistan arrested and deported nationalist leaders that were
supposed to stage a protest demonstration against the notorious
Karachi agreement of 28th April1949.  The protest demo was organized
by Gilgit Baltistan Democratic Alliance (GBDA), the largest alliance
of nationalist parties of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The arrest of nationalist leaders at a time when they were supposed to
participate in a peaceful protest demo staged to denounce the
notorious Karachi agreement speaks volumes for the bleak condition of
basic democratic rights in the region.  To add salt into the wounds,
the so called Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah lashed
out at nationalists in a press statement that made headlines in the
local press the same day. It is for the first time that anyone from
the government has blew upon the nationalists in such a way that has
given birth to many questions as the statement of chief minister leads
to nowhere.
Life in the region was going at its own snails pace with nothing
extraordinary to worry about except the few shoot-outs that have
become a norm and which is largely perceived by the masses as the
handiwork of sectarian elements.  The statement of the dummy chief
minister came out of the blue and the very day action was taken
against a dozen nationalist leaders assembled there to stage a
peaceful protest demo. It is worth to mention that those in the
government including the so called chief minister too have slammed the
Karachi agreement at one or another time while the fake agreement has
been denounced by every segment of the society for the last many
decades. The recent crackdown has created a quagmire that left
everyone stunned as the word law and order has no relation either with
the nationalists or the peaceful protest demonstration that is being
held every year for the last three decades.
It may be recalled that a religious cleric cum political leader had
warned the so called chief minister of dire consequences in case he is
not given any representation in the cabinet and the cabinet too bought
nothing but worrisome looks on the faces of those begging their own
share of power in the name of religion. May I humbly ask the so called
public elected representatives that when have the nationalists created
what the establishment called law and order situation in the history
of the region. Ask anyone from the nationalist strata and they will
reply in surprise that they don’t have such notions even in the
billionth part of their mind. Will anyone dare to ask the self
proclaimed all powerful chief minister as what was the criterion for
selection of cabinet members?  Will ever any one among the political
bigwigs deny if they have the slightest of what is called the human
element that the sectarian color has no role right from the balloting
process to the allocation of ministries???  It is crystal clear that
the recently formed cabinet has widened the gape between various sects
and is considered by many as the battle line for a fresh bout of
sectarian violence in the days to come.
The so called chief minister should have concentrated on his own
problems and attempted to put into order his own house firstly before
creating unnecessary clashes and violating the basic human rights for
no apparent reason.  The reason for arrest of these nationalists might
not be known to the chief minister himself as he is a mere connecting
link between Islamabad and the region. The role of the so called chief
minister or better call it cheap minister, at the current time is that
of the middle man between bandits and those kidnapped for ransom and
this statement and the crackdown that followed soon after is the
handiwork of the ‘men-in-white, and those sitting in the corridors of
powers in Islamabad.
It’s an open secret and the public representatives including the so
called chief minister had told the media times and again that the
Gilgit-Baltistan package was meant to topple the growing nationalism
among the masses and particularly the youth of the region.  As it is
‘the less said the better it be, the reality of the so called package
and the way election and then cabinet making process in the post
election scenario was dealt diminished every small ray of hope that
the masses had pinned in the so called package and it lost its charm
at a very early stage. The artificial fragrance of the package was
identified by the masses in the bud so it was useless to wait for it
to bloom into a complete flower.
All these shortcomings and frustrations lead to this crack down
against nationalists but this will have a severe back fire on the
establishment. This tactic of orchestration of a crisis to overcome
anther will lead the government to nowhere but to a black hole that
will prove hazardous for the region as a whole. Whenever is a law and
order situation created and whenever is the blood of the common men
shed in the name of religion in the region, figures are pointed
towards the local military and civil establishment. If the local
establishment has the enough conscience it should put his own house at
order first. Why is it that no perpetrator of any crime in
Gilgit-Baltistan has been brought to justice till the present day?
The establishment of the region has its own old habit of creating
hurdles for innocent civilians whenever its nefarious deeds are
exposed to the public.  What can be of more shame for the government
and local establishment than this public notion that fingers are
raised towards the establishment and ‘men-in-white, for every shoot
out and minor bloodshed.
The role of Pakistan’s civil and military establishment has been
notorious and condemnable since 1947 and the massacre of Jalal Abad in
1988 unearthed the nefarious designs of Pakistan’s intelligence
agencies in the region. fundamentalists from the tribal areas aided
and abated by security agencies marched all the way to Gilgit
mercilessly killing the than local indigenous people in the name of
Islam while civil establishment of Pakistan changed the demography of
the region by settling Pukhtuns and Punjabis in the region thus sowing
the seed of sectarian strife that over the years has taken lives of
innocent people for no apparent reason.
Today the region is ruled not by the so called elected representatives
but by the core commander of FCNA who is the lone king using every
legal and illegal power to oppress the local indigenous population.
What can be graver than the fact that an illiterate and handpicked man
was mad chief minister for giving heavy amount of money to the then
governor Qamar Zaman Kaira and who is more loyal to the king more than
the king that has the rains of power in Islamabad.
What can be more shameful for the masses of the region that heirs of
the hero who initiated the struggle for rights and identity of Gilgit
-Baltistan are deported from their motherland. The coming generations
will make fun of the current times and their heads will be bowed out
of embarrassment when they will be told that their forefathers needed
permission from a non local servant for staying in their own homes.
It is important to note that Wajahat Hassan Khan and Nadir Hassan
Khan, the front liners of nationalist movement in the region are both
sons of the legendary hero of the 1948 war. I wonder what the two
brothers will be thinking of their father’s noble legacy after this
disgrace done to them by the fundamentalist establishment of
Gilgit-Baltistan and their handpicked black sheep that are known to
the external world as ‘elected representatives,. Other front liners
that were picked and deported from Gilgit were Professor Mark Khaleeq,
Farooq Niazi Advocate, Sabir Kashmiri, Sardar Sagheer Ahmed Advocate,
Raja Mazhar, Farroq Umer, Arif Shahid and Mehmood Baig. The
establishments not just arrested and deported these leaders but went
one step forward in its cowardice and barred the remaining
nationalists and intellectuals from organizing a protest demo at
Colonel Hassan market. The participants however succeeded in marching
to the united nations regional office located at Jutial and presented
a memorandum while staged a protest demonstration outside Gilgit press
club latter the day.
The fate of the arrested nationalists is yet to be seen however this
coward and inhumane act of the military and civil establishment of
Gilgit-Baltistan has added another chapter to its nefarious and coward
acts while further fuelling the flame of hatred in the hearts of
common men of the region for the country and its military
establishment. Such acts only prove to strengthen the faith of those
striving for the rights of the no men’s land besides an eye opener for
the common men who are forced to rethink about the relation that they
have with the country called Pakistan.