Early Times Report
Srinagar, Jan 25: According provincial status to the Gilgit Baltistan region by the Pakistani government has put the entire separatist camp in a turbulent situation with some subtly expressing their displeasure and some preferring to remain mum.
This is for the first time since the onset of militancy that the separatist leadership has witnessed such great crises on ground with some issuing cautionary statements and some preferring not to speak at all. But Pakistan, a country which has been the centre of praise for the separatists has all of a sudden revealed that it's true face, prioritising economy and undermining the separatists who used to get diktats from it over every step they would take in the past.
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a development project, for which China has invested $46 billion, passes through Gilgit-Baltistan, and is seen as a major boost in Pakistan's economy. The fate of this region's people, consistently ignored since 1947, is clearly at stake. Any constitutional change in the region's status will affect not only them but the larger political discourse as well, which is at the heart of the geopolitical ambitions of three powerful countries - India, China and Pakistan.
Among the separatists, those who spoke against the Pakistan's move were JKLF chief Yasin Malik and Shakeel Bakhsi. Yasin Malik asked Pakistan to desist from the proposal. In a letter addressed to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Malik took jibe at the proposed move.
"This will have implications. Bartering away territory for economic growth does not make you statesman," wrote Malik.
Feeling the heat, pro-Pakistani separatist, Syed Ali Geelani urged Pakistan not to go ahead with the move to merge Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan.
Referring to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Geelani said that his party, the Hurriyat Conference, was not against the economic development and prosperity of the South Asian region,"but creating trade routes at the cost of rights, interests, wishes and sacrifices of Kashmiri nation is injustice and unkind," he said.
But among the separatists, there are some who are virtually caught between the devil and the deep sea. Among them is Mirwaiz Umar Farooq- chairman of one faction of the Huriyat conference. He hasn't issued a single statement against the move and has preferred to remain mum over such a subtle issue. As per reports, the reason behind Mirwaiz's such a stoic silence is that he doesn't want to perturb his Pakistani bosses. Shabir Shah is another separatist who is so far reluctant to speak about the merger of Gilgit Baltistan with the Pakistan.
Sources said that the separatist leadership is caught in a difficult situation and that the move to alter the status of Gilgit and Baltistan is beyond their control and further they do not want to perturb the present regime of Pakistan.
Sources said that Geelani has been warned that no such statement in future should be issued from his desk. |
