Making mockery of independence

Taking practical actions instead of relying on fate has been the essence of conscience-oriented nations and nations having the political will and power never take decisions that might bring embarrassment to them for generations. Celebrating November 1 as Independence Day of Gilgit-Baltistan is like making a mockery of the self. Gilgit-Baltistan is the only land on the surface of the earth that celebrates its so-called independence twice a year.

Each year the masses of Gilgit-Baltistan celebrate Independence Day. The day in reality is the other way round because it marks the beginning of a new era of slavery. This is another fact that due to the so-called revolution ignited by the imperialists the Sikhs had to leave Gilgit-Baltistan but some major blunders were committed in the course of time that became a major hurdle for the region in the following decades and the nation’s fate was tied to such fake decisions that had no legal foundation. History has proved it that fake decisions are made by a handful of people that tie nations to the rope of slavery and a similar situation happened with the masses of Gilgit-Baltistan. Today the masses of the region are facing the burnt of blunders that were committed nearly half a century ago. Even after completion of 63 years of slavery the nation celebrates or is forced to celebrate Independence Day on expenditures from the national exchequer. Won’t it be right if the nation mourns the day instead of celebrating the false independence?

Now 63 years have passed since the Sikhs and Dogras left Gilgit-Baltistan but nothing has changed for good and the occupant forces are still desperately attempting to make the masses believe that they have attained their desired independence. The ulterior motives have been attained for which Major Brown was assigned to ask the then army to rebel against the Dogras. But still the oppressors have not given the masses an opportunity to even think about their collective cause even for a moment. The stage set for a fake drama of so-called revolution still stands as it was half a century earlier and death dances on it even after the passage of 63 years.

During the Maharaja regime, bloodshed and violence was totally unknown to the masses of Gilgit-Baltistan but unfortunately it has become the norm of the day now. During the regime of Dogras, no non-local could even think of buying land in the region but after 1947 outsiders were allowed to settle in the region through a conspiracy aimed at changing the demography of the region by converting the local indigenous people into a minority.

After arrival of Islamabad’s fundamentalist bureaucracy, a fake history was forcefully crammed into the minds of the masses and opposite meanings and definitions were invited for words like patriotism, nation and linguistics. The state brought religious fanatics from the frontier province and tribal areas and settled them in Gilgit-Baltistan, who carried out massacre of innocent people including children and women besides harassing others them like animals. This 1988 carnage was aided and abetted by the state machinery which is documented in the military records of the country.

The 1988 killing spree marked the beginning of a new era of sectarian violence in the region that has claimed hundreds of lives so far.

What makes matters worse is that the state machinery has never identified even one of the elements responsible for sectarian killings let alone bringing them to justice.  State brutality has become common with incidents of loss of innocent lives at the hands of security forces in the region. In the violence that gripped Gilgit in the aftermath of killing of noted Shia scholar Agha Ziaudin Rizvi, security forces opened indiscriminate fire on peaceful protestors just outside the largest Imambargah in Gilgit city in which five people lost their lives including two females, one of whom an 18-year-old student. In another incident, security forces killed three persons by opening indiscriminate fire on peaceful protestors in Chilas who were demanding royalty rights for the Diamer-Bhasha dam - the largest water reservoir of the country that will submerge more than half of Diamer district including the district headquarters. These incidents are mere tip of the iceberg and an eye opener for those considering the region an independent entity. One may compare an article of the constitution of Pakistan which says that it is the duty of the state to ensure safety and security of its citizens with the examples of state oppression mentioned in the earlier lines.

Gilgit-Baltistan is like a half alive individual who has been placed in an incubator and is biologically alive but socially dead. The region remains clinging to Pakistan through packages that have no constitutional or legal status. The first dose of such packages was injected to the region by the noted politician and founder of Pakistan Peoples Party late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.  Daughter of Mr Bhutto and slain leader of PPP Benazir Bhutto realized that her father’s package had somehow lost its influence and the people of the region were getting sensitive about their deprivations. As a result,  she administered another dose of package to the region which worked well for nearly two decades until the recent government of Asif Ali Zardari, the man who accidentally stepped into politics after her wife Benazir Bhutto was killed by terrorists, walked in the shoes of his wife and father-in-law regarding Gilgit-Baltistan and introduced the latest package. This package called Gilgit-Baltistan Self-Governance Ordinance 2009 is a mere presidential ordinance and like the previous ones has no constitutional or legal validity.

Those celebrating independence days on 1^st November should think for a moment about the people who fell to the bullets of state machinery. It is a universal truth that no nation’s slavery has lasted for ever. The same universal truth applies for Gilgit-Baltistan and the nation will get itself free from shackles of slavery one day. It would be for the then masses to decide about the so-called leaders that prolonged the nation’s slavery for mere personal gains but history and the coming generations will never remember them in good words.

(www.bangesahar.com)