Gilgit Baltistan should be recognized as part of Pakistan: Siraj Butt

 Interview by Shah Alam Siddiqui

Mr. Siraj Butt the Founder and President of the “Karakoram Thinkers’ Forum” and a prominent popular leader from Gilgit and Baltistan territories is leading a movement for the attainment of the rights for his people within the framework of the constitution of Pakistan. The ‘Karakoram Thinkers Forum’ has been functional since 1998. During the course of the past 26 years, he has met many politicians, public figures, intellectuals, journalists, writers from various walks of life to articulate and disseminate his campaign. This movement, if we may call it as such is essentially not political in nature as in case of the traditional political parties.

His mandate and aim is to mobilize the world opinion in order to solicit support and to awaken the conscience and to highlight the deprivation and denial of the justified rights to his people enshrined in the constitution of Pakistan.

Talking to this correspondence in a special interview Mr. Siraj Butt emphatically asserted and explained his point of view and goals in broader details which are as under:

1.       The people of Gilgit and Baltistan are not recognized as the citizens of Pakistan. They have   no right to vote in elections.

2.       Even we don’t have any share of representation in the Azad Kashmir Assembly with which we are geographically affiliated.

3.       We are under the FATA rules applied to various areas in Pakhtunkhwa province.

4.       We have no seats in the Senate and National Assembly of Pakistan or in the Assembly of Azad Kashmir state.

5.       Like other states such as Jammu & Kashmir, Swat, Hunza and Chitral the people of Gilgit Baltistan have not been given a special status.

6.       When asked what rights the citizens of Gilgit and Baltistan are entitled Mr. Butt said,” we want our people to be governed by our own administrators, technocrats, civil servants and the academics and not by those sent from Islamabad.

7.       Pointing out the glaring discriminatory behavior of both the Federal Government of Pakistan   and the State of Jammu and Azad Kashmir, he said that the District Commissioners are appointed by Islamabad in various departments while the local people are ignored.  

8.       Highlighting the strategic significant of Gilgit Baltistan, he said, these are our local Scouts who protect and safeguard that part of border which is all mountainous and difficult to move around.

9.       It is ironical, he contended, and that even our Scouts are under the control and command of the GHQ. We are not given senior posts in the local militia called Gilgit Scouts.

10.   He explained that Gilgit Baltistan has its border with China, India, Russia and Nepal. The historical Silk Route or Karakoram Highway passes through our territory and connects Pakistan and China. The river Indus flows down to Pakistan through the valleys and the mountains of Gilgit/ Baltistan and is a main source for water and electricity to Pakistan. Tarbela Dam is built on river Indus which provides electricity to our country Pakistan. Despite these monumental services and its geographical and strategic importance, our people looks like slaves and majority of them is extremely poor. They have no permanent sources of Income because there are no industries in our areas. Besides, meaningful mentionable developmental plans have never been put in place in the Gilgit Baltistan.

So, my mission and mandate of my organization is to highlight the backwardness of my people and extreme inattention and negligence demonstrated by Pakistani government and Azad Kashmir authorities. It is high time, he emphasized that this vital and highly important part of Pakistan should have the mandate to establish self-government system, so that my people can look after their own affairs like other provinces and contribute towards prosperity, progress and unity of Pakistan like other nationalities. If Punjab, Baluchistan, KPK and Sindh provinces and states have their own local governance why the people of Gilgit and Baltistan are being deprived of the same rights?

Concluding his statement, he asserted that “we the people of Gilgit Baltistan are as patriot and committed to the unity of Pakistan as the rest of the population is. All that we want is the local administration to be run by our own people and allocation of enough funds for the progress and development of those distant valleys, where the majority of people survive on simple farming and serving the tourists for their living. “That’s the basic objective of establishing Karakoram Thinkers Form”, Mr. Butt emphasized.

He pointed that the Gilgit Baltistan area is extremely valuable because of the presence of vast reservoir of precious minerals which if excavated and properly refined, can fetch a great chunk of foreign exchange for Pakistan. Besides this will go to a large extent in providing employment to the local people which in return alleviate their poverty and deprivation.

One of the extremely important suggestions that Mr. Siraj Butt put forward is to establish the custom and octroi posts within the Gilgit Baltistan territories. He disclosed that it was being planned to set up these custom posts in Nowshera in Pakhtunkhwa province which he described is a vicious conspiracy to deprive our people for a legitimate revenue which was their right as the cross border traffic of both merchandise and tourists and other travelers take place between Gilgit and Baltistan and China. He implored the Pakistan federal government to take not note of this glaring injustice and give the right to collect the tariff to Gilgit and Baltistan which was indispensable for the uplift of our people.
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Shah A Siddiqui is a freelance Journalist, Critique Writer, Columnist & Bureau Chief,
Weekly Muslims Abroad, Urdu Times and Pakistan Abroad, based in Dallas, TX