Gilgit-Baltistan demands interim provincial status
Assembly unanimously adopts joint resolution for constitutional amendment
Islamabad: The Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly has demanded that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and the federal government grant the region interim provincial status in a joint resolution adopted on Tuesday. The resolution that reflects the wishes of the local people demanded that the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region should be provided representation in the national assembly, senate and other constitutional bodies.
The resolution that was jointly proposed by the government and opposition leaders in the GB assembly suggested that a bill to amend the constitution to declare GB a provisional province of Pakistan should be passed by the parliament. The amendments should “not affect Pakistan’s principle stand on Kashmir issue” and should be in accordance with the UN resolutions to respect the wishes of the people of the GB, it stated.
GB chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan (PTI), opposition leader Amjad Hussain (PPP), member assembly Ghulam Muhammad (PML-N), agriculture minister Muhammad Kazim (MWM), member Rehmat Khaliq (JUI-F), GB education minister Raja Azam Khan and minister Obaidullah Baig (PTI) jointly tabled the resolution.
‘Historic resolution’
“GB assembly unanimously passed a historic resolution demanding the provision of constitutional rights to the region,” said Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan, thanking both opposition and the government members for their support. “The demand for constitutional rights is a unanimous demand of the people of GB, not that of an individual or party. The unity we have shown on this issue needs to be repeated again at a federal level,” he stated.
Pakistan’s top federal ministers also hailed the decision. Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry termed the development a “historic day for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan”. Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed welcomed the GB assembly’s resolution and said that all political parties of Pakistan should support the initiative as it is the demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Last year, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan formally announced the provisional status for Gilgit-Baltistan within the framework of UN Security Council’s resolutions to fulfil the “long-standing demand of the people of the region”. In December 2020, a 12-member committee was formed to suggest recommendations for granting Gilgit-Baltistan the status of a provisional province of Pakistan.
Since coming into power in 2018, the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government had assured full constitutional rights as well as equal economic opportunities for the people of GB to put an end to the decades-long deprivation and open up new avenues of development.