EDITORIAL: On November 1, 2020 (Nov 1 is observed as Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Independence Day), Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced that his government would give the region the provisional status of a province “without prejudice to the Kashmir dispute”. Four months on, the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly passed a unanimous resolution demanding interim provincial status for the region. This was not only in line with the lingering demand of people of the region, but also as it acquired strategic pertinence in light of the fact that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through it – much to the chagrin of India. For adoption of Gilgit-Baltistan as a provisional province of Pakistan, Article 1 of the Constitution shall have to be amended, and that to some should be no problem given the Opposition’s reported unconditional commitment of support that it had expressed in presence of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The Ministry of Law and Justice has finalized the proposed legislation – the 26th Constitutional Amendment - and submitted the draft to Prime Minister Imran Khan. It was prepared after appraisal of the region’s status in the context of the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. Stakeholders, including the governments of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, too, have been consulted. It has been ensured that India or any other hostile entity doesn’t succeed in scandalizing this move, a likelihood which cannot be ruled out given New Delhi’s insistence that Gilgit-Baltistan being part of undivided State of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be a province of Pakistan. Since India is presently president of the UN Security Council it may also raise this issue at that platform. But meticulous care has been taken to ensure that the proposed constitutional amendment is in accordance with the international practices of merger of territories and it will not adversely affect Pakistan’s stand on the Kashmir dispute in any manner whatsoever.
As proposed, the provisional province of Gilgit-Baltistan will have its legislature as well as representation of its people in the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan. And in line with the proposed constitutional amendment its Chief Court may be abolished and replaced with a High Court, while the Supreme Appellate Court (SAC) of Gilgit-Baltistan may be abolished or re-established, along the lines of Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In case it is abolished the jurisdiction of Supreme Court of Pakistan may be extended to Gilgit-Baltistan. The Election Commission of the region will be merged with Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and its chairman will be made a member of the ECP. But as of now all of this is only a proposal. In what final shape it emerges after discussion and debate in parliament and reaction of general public and media it has yet to be seen. There’s a very old proverb: There’s many a slip ‘twixt cup and the lip. Those who lost elections both in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir may insist that Imran Khan’s move very much fits into the Narendra Modi’s scheme of things. They may claim that after granting provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan he may also convert Azad Kashmir into a province of Pakistan and thus bring to a dishonourable end the decades-old struggle for the Kashmir cause.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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