Despite the fact that the people of GB in November 16 1948 unconditionally acceded to Pakistan having liberated themselves from the Dogra Raj, they are kept under an overarching rule via the bureaucracy of Pakistan. To gain vote in favour of Pakistan in the UN plebiscite, Pakistan is trying to keep the region under an oppressive rule despite the fact Modi in India has changed the status of Kashmir and made it a part of India against the UN resolution of 1948.
This is an illegitimate way of keeping the region under control in spite of the fact that people have acceded to Pakistan without any prior demand. Previously, it was the Kashmir issue that was a big hurdle in giving GB a rightful political status. But given the change in the status of Kashmir by India, it is the moral obligation of Pakistan to give people of GB their due rights of recognition as waiting for UN plebiscite is neither the interest of Pakistan nor the local people.
The political situation of GB thus has not changed since the beginning as the region was being ruled via the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) - a kind of colonial rule. In one way or another, the same law -FCR- is being used but with different names over the time. Despite people's constant woes against these discriminatory laws, the state of Pakistan has not looked into the matter carefully, thus deepening the political identity crisis of the region.
GB could no longer be ruled by a colonial law such as the Ordinance of 2009 which had given the legislative assembly of GB a kind of self-rule but in reality the region is still being controlled by the bureaucracy of Pakistan, meaning therefore that not a single government of Pakistan has tried to give people of GB a right to self-rule.
If Pakistan wants to discredit the claim of India over the region, it has to act now and make the region a legitimate part of Pakistan as its the opportune time given the militarization of Kashmir under the Modi regime. This is something the people of GB want too. If Pakistan constitutionally makes GB its part by changing its constitution, the local people will readily accept it which will further embolden the case of Pakistan and also give it a legitimate cover.
Moreover, it is time to bury the Kashmir issue as long as the political status of GB is concerned. If Pakistan still ignores the people of GB and their due rights, then there will not come an opportunity like this for Pakistan to provide a legal cover to its economic projects under the Belt and Road Initiatives ( BRI). Changing the status of GB would help Pakistan in making its relation with China even more stronger and at the same time it would ease the burdened hearts of GB in favour of Pakistan.
Undoubtedly, the current volatile situation is a big opportunity for Pakistan to change the status of the region as geo-political sands are shifting in the global arena. Given the US tilt in favour of India to contain China, Pakistan has no option but to make its frontiers politically secure. Else, pockets of resistance in GB and other regions of Pakistan would make the rest of country ungovernable given the terrorist organization sprouting their heads along the KKH.
Syed Tajammul Abbas has degree in Political Science and International Relations from Karakorum International University, Gilgit-Baltistan.
Shahzaib Hassan is a freelance colunmist . He can be reached at They6776@gmail.com