The no-where people of Northern Areas, where unrest because of legal ambivalence has always been brutally suppressed. 'Our locals are becoming minorities. We have no right to cast votes in Pakistan, nor in Azad Kashmir. Like a no-man's land'
"It was not understandable on what basis the people of Northern Areas can be denied the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. We are of the view that the people of Northern Areas are citizens of Pakistan for all intents and purposes. They have the rights to invoke any fundamental rights but are also liable to pay taxes and other levies competently imposed."
The Court ruled, further:
"We allow the petitions and direct the respondent federation to initiate appropriate administrative/legislative measures within a period of six months from today to make necessary amendments in the Constitution... to ensure that the people in Northern Areas enjoy their fundamental rights, namely, to be governed by their chosen representatives, and to have access to justice inter alia for the enforcement of their fundamental rights under the Constitution (of Pakistan)."
Under the Interim Act 1974 of the Constitution of Azad Kashmir [PoK], a person may contest elections and seek Government employment only if he or she ‘believes in the ideology of Pakistan’ and the concept of the ‘State’s accession to Pakistan’. APNA contends that "those who are real patriots and believe in the reunification and independence of their motherland have been deprived of these basic human rights."
APNA chairman Arif Shahid stated, at a Press Conference inMuzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, that according to UN resolutions, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was a disputed territory whose future was yet to be decided and that the clause of accession to Pakistan was against the UN resolutions and a violation of human rights.
In order to participate in elections, APNA has moved the Court for the removal of the unconstitutional clause of accession to Pakistan. In a writ petition filed under Section 44, APNA argues that "that the declaration… in Azad J&K Assembly Rules, 1970 and Sec, 3 and 9 of the Political Parties Act, 1987, to the extent of the words, "State’s accession to Pakistan" and in the Local Bodies Election Rules, 1970 the Declaration: "I believe in the ideology of the State’s accession to Pakistan" arecoram-non-judice, illegal and have been inserted without lawful authority..."
"They [the Pakistan Government] have never trusted us. From day one, that is, November 1, 1947, till now we cannot govern our own land. If we are given that right, they think all hell will break lose."
There is no mention of Gilgit-Baltistan either in the Constitution of Pakistan or in the Interim Constitution of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The area is thus an extraordinary example of constitutional ambivalence and, in contravention of judicial decrees, Islamabad continues to maintain this status quo.
Islamabad is believed to have suppressed the letters of accession from the Rajas of Nagar and Hunza partially because they had no power of accession (since the entire State of Jammu & Kashmir reverted to Maharaja Gulab Singh after the departure of the British), and because the whole State was sought to be brought under dispute before the United Nations.
Nominal political institutions such as the 24-member Northern Areas Legislative Council have been created, but these have had no impact on the political rights of the people of the region, which is directly administrated by fiat from Islamabad. The bureaucracy, primarily drawn from the North West Frontier Province and Punjab, has intensified the sense of alienation and negated any semblance of self-rule in the NAs. Forces opposing Islamabad’s rule over the region have long argued that the revenue accruing from resources like hydro-electricity, tourism and minerals are being ‘managed’ by Islamabad for the benefit of other provinces.
Further, Police at Battagram in the NWFP disclosed on June 16 that they had foiled a bid to smuggle arms and ammunition and arrested two persons, Ubaidullah and AbdulKarim. Police officer Nisar Khan Tanoli said they recovered 12 AK-47 rifles, fifteen 303 rifles, twelve 8 mm rifles, 13 China rifles, 12 pistols, 20 other rifles, three 7mm guns and about 5,000 rounds of different bore. He added that the cache was being transported toGilgit.
Further, the tactics used by sectarian terrorists in places like Quetta, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and elsewhere are now being employed in the NAs. The bomb explosion at a mosque in Naltar village, about 35 kilometers west ofGilgit, occurred during evening prayers when the attendance is relatively higher. A pattern of such attacks has characterized operations by sectarian groups like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi(LeJ) in other provinces of Pakistan.
Ahsan Wali Khan, a prominent journalist from the NAs, reports that there is a dangerous trend of well-organized teenagers armed with lethal weapons carrying out executions behind the smokescreen of mob violence. Road travel is becoming increasingly hazardous, especially on theKKH, since it passes through a Sunni majority area from Gilgit to Rawalpindi (the July 18 bus incident occurred on this route). The KKH also passes through the Shia dominated Nagar valley en route to Hunza and China, where IGP Tareen was killed. Uncertain travel on the KKH has led to a relative decrease in the volume of trade and inflow of foreign tourists, the mainstay of the local economy.
Kanchan Lakshman is Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management; Assistant Editor,Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South AsiaTerrorism Portal