Karachi accord roots of all ills

By Dj Mathal

The so-called Karachi agreement of April 28, 1949, has brought the whole Gilgit-Baltistan at the verge of destruction. Today the region burning in fire under the fragile administrative control of Pakistan is a slap on the conscience of those rulers of Islamabad and Azad Kashmir who committed the fraud in the name of the so-called Karachi agreement to control the region.

The sole aim of the agreement was to keep the region of Gilgit-Baltistan in one way or the other under the control of Pakistan. However, after the passage of about 60 years the people of the region have not reconciled themselves with the shenanigans of the Pakistani rulers and are fed up with their injustices. Observers point out that to achieve the objectives behind the Karachi agreement, the rulers have adopted various other tactics to perpetuate their grip on the region. One of such tactics has been to divide the locals on the basis of sectarianism so that they remain divided and never raise voice against the rulers with one voice. In this game, hundreds of innocent people have been killed while there seem more dark days to come if the situation remained the same. In the process, a large number of security forces are brought to the area ostensibly to control law and order situation but the result of such deployments has been very clear to all and sundry.

In was for the first time in the history of the world that the fate about the future of an area was decided without involving the locals of the area. It is ironic that the bogus Karachi agreement was signed to give legitimacy to Pakistani presence in the region without taking a single representative of the people on board. Under this agreement, the rights of the two million people of Gilgit-Baltistan were trampled and for the last over six decades they have been kept deprived of their basic political, social, economic and constitutional rights. It is also a joke with the representatives of the people as they have been hoodwinked in the name of different packages in place of their due rights. The rulers have continuously lying to the people of the region some times promising them an Azad Kashmir-like setup and some time provincial status. But now the masses have become well aware of their rights and also understand the rulers’ tactics aimed to keep them deprived of their rights and rule the area.

They are no more ready to give an ear to such propaganda anymore and are determined to ensure their due rights so far denied to them.

It is for sure that not only the minister for Kashmir affairs and Northern Areas does not want to transfer his powers to the elected representatives of the region but also Pakistan as a state wants to perpetuate its powers in the region and keep the two million people of Gilgit-Baltistan under its subjugation. One thing also needs clarification. Those who have been supporting the false promise of Pakistan to give the area a setup like that of Azad Kashmir should also understand that how much freedom the people of Azad Kashmir enjoy today? How powerful are those who have reached the so-called assemblies? They survive at the good will of Pakistan and as and when Islamabad wants, they are packed and sent home. Even the prime minister of Azad Kashmir can be put behind bars if Pakistan so desired. And as far as taking personal advantage is concerned, the opportunists could have also taken equal benefits had there been any council in place of the Azad Kahmir assembly because the powerless members of the Northern Areas council have been filling their pockets for so long time. This is however another question that they have been enjoying all facilities at the cost of the two million people of the region who have been denied their basic rights and these so-called public representatives have no compunction or remorse over the public sufferings.

As the Karachi agreement is the root cause of all our ills, the only way to get rid of our problems is to throw it away.

Pakistan has always been claiming to acting on the relevant UN resolutions on the region. However, had it been respecting the UNCIP resolutions it would have withdrawn its civilian and military officials from the region long ago and would not have staged the drama of the so-called Karachi agreement. Had Pakistan acted upon the relevant UN resolutions, it would also have the moral high ground to ask India to respect the resolutions of the world body and withdraw its forces fro Kashmir.

We also understand that Pakistan alone is not responsible for our problems. Our own people are equally to be blamed for the mess we have been in for the last over 60 years.

Now it is time we stopped begging for our rights and got united to fight to ensure them. It is the responsibility of each and everyone to work against the injustices and to ensure the rights of the people which have been denied to them for so long. If we did rise to the occasion and remained mired in petty disputes and fighting against each other, we will remain in the present mess and our next generation will never forgive us for this.