Rustam
JAMMU, Dec 16: A number of motivated persons from Paki-stan, the so-called Azad Kas-hmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region took part in the three-day-long "civil society" dialogue on Jammu & Kashmir. The dialogue took place in one of the costliest Jammu hotels and about five dozen "delegates" took part in it. It is har-dly necessary to again refer to the themes of discussion in which certain very-carefully-selected persons took part and spoke. Suff-ice to say that one of the the-mes of the deb-ate was "Mult-iple Stakeholders". It should clear all the doubts and establish that the motive of the organizer - Centre for Dialogue and Reconcil-iation (CDR) - was not noble.
Anyway, one of the participants from across the border was Amina Ansari, a two-time Pakistan Muslim League woman MLA in the sham Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly. In an interview to a local correspondent on Friday, she said many things about the region to which she belongs, as also about the status and plight of Gilgit-Baltistan, also called Northern Areas which stands virtually merged with Pakistan (a violation of the UN resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir). She, among other things, reportedly said: "The improvement of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan is imperative in solving the problem of the people in undivided Jam mu & Kashmir as well as Gilgit -Baltistan, where the people have been deprived of their political rights, as the region, is considered disputed by Pakistan Government…The dispute on Gilgit-Baltistan should end once and for all…People there should be empowered politically…'Being disputed, people are facing many problems and lack development'. Our youth and students come to J&K and other parts of India for higher education as there are no proper facilities…The Gilgit- Baltistan, which has a population of over 18 lakh, has one Kurakaram International University and people lack proper education facilities and once the solution to the existing problem is found, the region will get proper attention for its development…There are 33 MLAs in Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, (but) the people of the region are still politically neglected and deprived as they do not get representation in Pakistan's Senate and other political fora…Like the Kashmir issue is being raised on different fora, the Gilgit -Baltistan issue will also be raised to provide justice to the people of that region. 'Once the issue is raised the solution to the problem will come automatically'…Gilgit-Baltistan is politically weak (and the) lack of political empowerment has led to the deprivation in economic and social fields also..." "5000 families of Gilgit -Baltistan have been divided due to partition and our parents and grand parents waited for years together to meet their relatives in this part of Kashmir but they could not succeed. But now a hope has emerged as I managed to visit here and this is a good," she also reportedly said during the interview.
It was clear from her interview that she sees in the resolution of the so-called Kashmir issue the resolution of the problem of Gilgit-Baltistan region. But the question is: Did she really mean what she said? Another question to be asked is: Was she bemoaning the economic, social and political neglect of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan or was she thinking in terms of misleading the people of the state through the interview that she gave? Yet another question that needs to be asked is: Had she any moral right to speak for the people of her region who, according to her own version, have been marginalized by the Government of Pakistan, which again, according to her, considers Gilgit-Baltistan a disputed territory? One more question needs to be asked is: "Can she plead the case of neglected, marginalized, and even persecuted Shiite Muslims of Gilgit-Baltistan considering the fact that she is an important "leader of the Pakistan Muslim League?
These are some of the questions the visiting lady and PML leader needs to answer before she goes back to the place she hails from. It is a must because she cannot work for a party that stands for Pakistan as well as complete merger of both "Azad Kashmir" and Gilgit-Baltistan, besides this part of the state, with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and speak for Gilgit-Baltistan which, she herself admits, has been suffering because of the Pakistani shabby treatment to the people of this strategic region. She will not answer these questions. There should be no doubt about it. For, she is basically an agent of Pakistan. That is the reason executive director of the CDR had been able to bring her and similar other persons from across the border to Jammu, the original capital of the State of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Islamabad doesn't allow anyone to visit Jammu & Kashmir who is not its well-wisher and friend. Yes, Islamabad does permit the likes of Ansari to say a few words against Pakistan so that they are able to mislead the people of India in general and Jammu & Kashmir in particular.
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