Gilgit Baltistan: The worst Colonial system in Hunza

Gilgit Baltistan: Nationalists reject Pakistan-China accords

The chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement (BGUM), Manzoor Hussain Parwana, said Pakistan’s decision to ignore the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in the Kashghar to Gwadar economic corridor and other mega projects with China was a big injustice with the people of the region. In a statement here, the GBUM chief said that Nawaz Sharif was not an elected representative of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and as such has no authority to enter into any agreement with a foreign country involving the dispute territory or its borders. He said that signing of the agreement by the prime minister of Pakistan with China without taking the indigenous people of Gilgit-Baltistan was against the international laws. The GBUM leader said that under the Tashkent agreement in 1962, the then prime minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gifted 2600 square kilometers of Gilgit-Baltistan territory to China and in return the construction of the Karakorum Highway was taken up. Six decades after the creation of Pakistan, the disputed status of Gilgit-Baltistan has not been resolved and the people of the region have no representation in parliament of Pakistan. While the people of Gilgit-Baltistan remain deprived of all their rights, Pakistan’s decision to enter into so many agreements to launch projects in the disputed territory was increasing the sense of deprivation among the people of the region. He also said that both China and Pakistan should understand that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan would neither allow them to treat their area as a property on sale nor tolerate trampling of their rights.