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Package devoid of self-rule By Dj Mathal
The federal government has once again hoodwinked the over two million people of Gilgit-Baltistan by brining in the so-called Empowerment and Self-Rule Order 2009. It seems that the people who decide the fate of the region sitting in Islamabad have no comprehension of the issues at all.
What is new in the so-called package which is being trumpeted as a giant step taken by this government? The existing powerless chief executive has been renamed as the chief minister and a non-representative and non-local federal minister who has been working as the chairman of the region is now to take over as governor of the region with over 85 per cent powers. There will be no change in the status of the so-called legislative assembly which will become as a rubber stamp as before. Similarly, the so-called ministers will remain at the mercy of the KANA division bureaucracy as before. Though the elected representatives of the people will be called ministers, their functions will be utilized by others. It is the misfortune of the people who had kicked out a governor named Ginsara Singh after fighting the Dogras in 1947 that they are being gifted with another Ginsara Singh over 63 years later in the form of a man like Qamar Zaman Kaira.
To rub slat to injuries, the prime minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani under the glare of the media announced that he was announcing a powerful and independent setup to end the 62 years of deprivation of Gilgit-Baltistan which will give the area people complete autonomy. And then, the world saw that the empowerment and self-rule order 2009 neither gave autonomy nor any type of self-governance. With the announcement of the package, the local chapter of the ruling PPP has come out as its most active proponent. This is understandable because the PPP leaders in Gilgit-Baltistan are expecting lucrative posts when the new setup comes into force. Of course, such politicians do not think beyond their personal gains when the opportunity comes. This is despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan have already rejected the so-called package. If we look at the unfolding development, it surprises us that the draft package which was approved by the federal cabinet and later signed into law by the president had even not been shown to the PPP leadership of Gilgit-Baltistan before approval nor have these so-called leaders of Gilgit-Baltistan got a photo copy of it. So the claim that the people of the region were taken into confidence on the preparation of the draft package is farce and baseless. It is also surprising that the people of the region are being denied their birth right. What are the reasons and what the compulsions due to which the people are being denied their rights leading to more and more deprivation and frustration in the region.
Here another important point has come to the limelight. During his press conference, the prime minister acknowledged that in the presence of UN resolutions regarding the region, there are a number of complications in the way of giving provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan. The people of the region are right when they ask that in the presence of the UN resolution was it justifiable to enslave the masses of the region by imposition of a virtual governor's rule and that does it not impact on the freedom movement in Kashmir. All the political parties of the region, both opposition and the treasury, have termed the package as a panacea for subjugation of the people of the region.
It is not the issue of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan that they need a governor or chief minister; they just want self-rule to run their affairs on their own. They want to have powers on their resources so that they can utilize it for their welfare. It is a fact that to occupy the rich resources of the region the area people are being denied their due rights so that Pakistan can continue plundering the resources of the region without any check. The rulers and their agents know very well that if the people of the region are given autonomy, they will not allow any outsider to take away the wealth of the region. They also understand the fact that the people after becoming masters of their own affairs will open new educational institutions and health acre facilities. Moreover, for the last over six decades the region ahs been used as a cantonment of the army and the region was given autonomy this monopoly will also end. According to the new package, to speak against the ideology of Pakistan will be a crime in a region that is not part of this country. Indeed, this is a weird and bizarre law. Until the holding of a plebiscite, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan have the right to accede to Pakistan or remain independent. The package in this way violates this right of the people of the region and it is also against the relevant resolutions and law of the United Nations.
It is time the government should prepare a complete new package in consultation with the people and political leaders of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir to give full political power to the region and end the deprivation and poverty among the masses. Such a package should give the people the sense that they are not being ruled from outside but have been made masters of their own. At this stage we can only hope that without making it an issue of ego, the rulers will take realistic steps and do away with the decades-old cosmetic measures to prolong their rule in the region. (www.weeklybaang.blogspot.com)
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