Parwana expressed displeasure at India and Pakistan ignoring Gilgit Baltistan from the whole gamut of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs). Lamenting the fact that people from the Northern Areas were being isolated, he said “don’t give suggestions and road maps: give solutions”. Parwana suggested that the region should be given autonomy, and routes from GB to Kargil should be thrown open. Both India and Pakistan are responsible for the suffering in GB, because India has also declared GB as a ‘silent zone’ and has failed to project the atrocities perpetrated by Pakistan on the people of the region. Peace processes, he noted, are just suggestions and road maps. “We need a solution”, he added. Recollecting the Kargil war, he said: “Our youth was killed in the Kargil Operation, and they were called ‘militants’. There were not militants… they were our people who join the Northern Areas Light Infantry because of their poverty.”
Ali Khan Shafqat, another delegate from GB, said it is unfortunate that people in GB have suffered the most. He highlighted the fact that while there is a State Legislative Assembly in Indian Kashmir and a so-called Government in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), there is no political institution at all in GB. Khan demanded that people from the Northern Areas be given a chance to meet people from Kargil and Ladakh. He said, “If Northern Areas are brought to the same level as Indian Kashmir and PoK, then we can talk as equals.”
He categorically stated that the Jihad in Indian Kashmir has been engineered and is merely propaganda. ‘Azad Kashmir’, according to Khan, is only a term given by Pakistan to one of the parts of divided J&K. It is not actually ‘Azad’, but Pakistan – occupied – Kashmir, Khan added. Elucidating, Khan noted that while there is a Prime Minister and ministers, they are only stooges, with their headquarters based in Murree and that such a ‘leadership’ could be changed anytime. He also accused the Governments of India and Pakistan of using the Northern Areas as ‘fuel’.
According to Shafqat, “Both Musharraf and Government of India take the Hurriyat Conference as the representatives of Kashmir. But they are not our representatives. The negotiations should be with representatives of all the people of Kashmir. We do not recognize Maulvi Omar Farooq as qualified to negotiate the future of GB.”
By way of suggestions, he said demilitarization is very important for Gilgit Baltistan. Furthermore, the role of the ISI needs to be terminated. He also said that Pakistan is not serious about the Northern Areas but if India is serious, it should ask all the factions to sit together and conduct a detailed dialogue.
No comments :
Post a Comment