Autonomy to Gilgit-Baltistan is a joke: Pakistani Kashmiri leader

Islamabad's move to give "greater political autonomy" to the Northern Areas by renaming the region Gilgit-Baltistan and giving it the powers of a federal province is "nothing but a little joke", says a separatist leader in Pakistan- administered Jammu and Kashmir.

On Saturday, the Pakistan cabinet approved the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order, 2009, that empowers the local assembly to elect its chief minister; the Pakistan president will appoint a governor for the region adjoining Jammu and Kashmir that was earlier under the direct control of Islamabad.

Like other provinces, the assembly will, however, have no control over defence and treasury.

"We outrightly reject this so called governance order 2009 for Gilgit Baltistan. It is nothing but a little joke to the people of this region and the state of Jammu (and) Kashmir," Jammu and Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP) president Liaqat Hayyat told IANS in an email interview.

The JKNAP is a separatist political outfit based in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administer ed Kashmir or 'Azad' Jammu and Kashmir, the other part of Kashmir that is under Islamabad's control.

"After 63 years of deprivation of basic human rights, Pakistan's decision to change the name of the local administration and creation of the authority of chief minister and governor indicates that this region would be a province of the country," Hayyat said.

The Shia Muslim-dominated region, seen as part of its Jammu and Kashmir state by India, has seen a separatist movement gaining momentum over the past few years.

Alarmingly low literacy levels, the absence of industry, deplorable road and communication links, the lack of energy sources, and the lack of job opportunities have fuelled the resentment and rebellion amongst the people in the region -- which was part of Jammu and Kashmir before Pakistan militarily occupied some parts of the erstwhile princely state in 1948.

Islamabad's move to grant it autonomy to address the simmering discontent has serious implications for the "disputed" territoriality of Jammu and Kashmir.

"It is a totally unconstitutional decision. Pakistan has absolutely no authority over the region to decide the fate of the two million people of disputed Jammu and Kashmir. It is a violation of the UN resolution which has only mandated temporary administrative authority over this region till the Kashmir dispute is resolved between India and Pakistan," said Hayat.

He said Pakistan was making "an attempt to strengthen (its) occupation over the region and it is not acceptable to any one in the region or any patriotic Kashmiri".

"This expansionist policy of the Pakistani state must be resisted," he said.

"This region has not been part of Pakistani state; nor have people of this region ever decided to join Pakistan.

"Pakistani rulers are behaving like colonial powers in the region and imposing their own institutions against the popular will of the people of this unfortunate region. It is condemnable and shameful... The JKNAP will continue its struggle and resist occupation of Kashmir," he added.

The JKNAP has called for protest Tuesday all over Pakistan-administer ed Kashmir cities and towns.

Also known as the Karakoram region, Gilgit-Baltistan spreads from Shinaki Kohistan to Chitral (in Pakistan) up to Tashkurgan (under Chinese occupation) and from Ladakh to Kargil in India.

When British rule came to an end in 1947, the region was conquered by Pakistan in 1948 tribal raids. Pakistan later "gifted" a part of the territory towards the extreme north to China.

Stringent laws make the region inaccessible to foreigners and there are few media reports from the region.