Is Azad Kashmir independent?

Weekly Bang-e-Sahar Karachi

Is Azad Kashmir independent?

By Shafqat Ali Inqilabi

An Azad Kashmir like set-up for Gilgit-Baltistan is under hot debate in the region nowadays and it seems the PPP leadership will finally fulfil its promise of a set-up like that. The local political and religious leadership too are of the opinion that such an arrangement is the solution to the political and constitutional deprivations of the region. On the other hand, the Gilgit-Balstistan Democratic Alliance (GBDA) is strongly opposed to the idea and views it yet another plot of the government to keep the region in its trap for another half a century or more.As a matter of fact, those favoring the Azad Kashmir like set-up are looking merely at the label of prime minister and president presently being held by Sardar Ateeq and Raja Zulqarnain, respectively, but are ignorant of the decision making and legislative powers that rest with these people along with the Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly. Another reason for the local leadership to support such a set-up is their lust for cheap publicity and our local leadership's passion for a name tag pf president, prime minister, chairman and secretary et.Before taking into account the prose and corns of the Azad Kashmir type of arrangement one needs to clearly understand the powers exercised by the so-called prime minister and president of that region. The status of prime minister and president in the Pakistani occupied Kashmir is more or less the same as that of our chief executive. The so-called Prime Minister Sardar Ateeq and the person known as the chief executive of Gilgit-Baltistan are both mere subordinates of a Punjabi man hailing from Lala Musa known as the minister for Kashmir affairs.If the chief of Gilgit-Baltistan is allowed only to host a Pakistani flag on his vehicle, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir is allowed to host the flag of Kashmir only up to Kohala bridge and just before entering Muree the flag is to be removed and kept in the pocket. Similarly, if the chief of Gilgit-Baltistan Ghazanfar Ali Khan has to make an appointment two days earlier in order to meet the Kashmir affairs minister, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir is also required to stand in queue for two days to meet the minister for Kashmir affairs. As in Gilgit one needs the NOC from Jutial to become an adviser, speaker or chief executive, in the same way the presidential and prime ministerial candidates have to get an NOC from the GOC of Muree. As in Gilgit-Baltistan the ruling party is the one which has a government in the federal capital, in the same way in Azad Kashmir that party comes to power which has affiliations with the party in power in Islamabad.If Muslim League rules in Azad Kashmir, then the PPP has to wait until the jiyalas come to power in the centre. The un-feathered king of Azad Kashmir, its prime minister, too has to bow in front of a chief secretary coming from NWFP like the chief executive of Gilgit-Baltistan in order to survive. The ministers of Azad Kashmir too have to wait at the doors of section officers and other civil servants of grade 17 to 19 like the advisers of Gilgit-Bbaltistan who queue up at the doors of these offices with a cap in one hand and a China blanket in the other to approve a scheme. The so-called prime minister of Azad Kashmir also has to serve under a chief secretary and an army general like the chief executive of Gilgit-Baltistan.The much advertised and propagated Azad Kashmir like set-up will do no good for the region. and people who are favoring the proposal are either fools or traitors wanting to keep the region under Pakistani siege for another sixty years. The new package is nothing but a mere ploy of channeling the masses anxiety over inseparable problems. One needs to ponder into the past.Have the past packages done any good to the region? Did the advisory council proved any good? Was the northern areas council the solution to our deprivations? Did the northern areas legislative council solve a single problem regarding the constitutional and political deprivations of the region? Last but not the least has the northern areas legislative assembly moved a single step towards the national goal? If not then of what good will the Azad Kashmir like set-up do for the region? Like this set-up the previous packages too were advertised and propagated by the government and favored by our local leadership as a milestone towards achieving the constitutional status but they did not even prove to be the cornerstones. Has our local leadership got the any sense? Don't they have the slightest of what is called common sense. If the past packages as they say were meant for mere prolonging the control of the military and civil bureaucracy on the region than for what unknown reasons are they favoring the new package.The sixty-one-year long deprivation has destroyed our political system and a mere change in the name of chief executive is nothing but to rub salt on our wounds. The demand should not be for a name tag but for authority and decision power and no minus one formula will be accepted.Any demand less than a full fledged sovereign legislative assembly will mean nothing but to stretch the slavery. Worsening is the fact that some time earlier a resolution in favor of the Azad Kashmir like set-up was passed unanimously which is nothing but to fool the nation and themselves.The local leadership for now should have a pity on the people of the region otherwise the deprived nation will stand up one day and grab them by their necks but that would be a moment too late for negotiations and excuses. The local leadership should keep in mind that the new package is just like old wine in a new bottle meant for sabotaging the public favor gained by the nationalist movements rising in the region. The political mesiah of Islamabad are giving sleeping pills to make the nation sleep for 3-4 years as it has been doing in the past but it will not work this time as the cancer is at its last stage and the injection of "Kashmir like set-up" is not the cure, it needs an operation which can destroy the germ of deprivation and injustice.